Review: Apex

In a near future setting, ice-cold rich psychopath Neal McDonough (whose character is a doctor by trade!) and some kill-hungry associates (Lochlyn Munro, Corey Large, Megan Peta Hill, and Nels Lennarson among them) enjoy hunting humans and killing them for sport. Enter ex-cop, ex-con Bruce Willis, a man said to be unkillable (and whose dossier reads like a list of roles from Willis’ past films). Pretty soon Willis’ elusiveness has gotten the hunters pissed off and eventually bickering amongst themselves.

 

You see enough of these Bruce Willis cheapies and some of them start to seem not too bad in comparison to the rest. So it is with this uninspired 2021 re-tread of “Most Dangerous Game”. Directed by Edward Drake, who co-scripts with supporting actor Corey Large (they scripted Willis’ mediocre “Breach” together), it also happens to be a better version of “Most Dangerous Game” than “Turkey Shoot” at least. Low bar? Incredibly.

 

This one gets a lot of mileage out of an ice-cold, psychopathic Neal McDonough as a remorseless, egotistical ‘hunter’. McDonough’s a reliable hand and actually doesn’t phone this one in. There’s something genuinely creepy about his calm, no-nonsense confident demeanour here. There’s also amusing support work by Lochlyn Munro, as a smug, rich idiot who isn’t as tough as he’d like to be. He’s no great actor, but he’s a hoot. As for Willis, his sense of humour is key here. It’s hardly a great turn – and we all know why now, I suppose – but there are hints of the Bruce Willis of “Die Hard” here. A poor version of it no doubt, but still much better than his cognitively impaired performances of late. I’ll take it, he’s trying his best with what he’s got left to give. Also, take a look at his derpy face on a hologram early on, it’s hilarious (and hopefully done on purpose).

 

On the downside, the film looks terrible. It was clearly made on the very, very cheap and that’s a real shame especially given the film dearly wants to seem hi-tech. It looks like a home movie, and a pretty bad one at that. The visual FX look especially cut-rate. Also, most of the other performances are by relative no-namers who are pretty amateurish. Particularly sticking out like a sore thumb is co-screenwriter/producer Corey Large as one of the hunters. He mostly turns up in bit parts while producing and writing are his main areas. It shows, the guy has no presence and is the least talkative person in the film. Dude gave himself a role he had to mostly stay mute in because he wasn’t up to the task. There are times when it appears as though he doesn’t even realise he’s being filmed. It’s the damnedest thing. Canadian actor Nels Lennarson is problematic, too. He puts on the most inconsistent, unconvincing Irish (?) accent you’ll ever hear. At times he sounds Russian, and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t meant to be. His overall performance is actually fine enough, but his character is nauseating to endure and that accent just isn’t working. Outside of them and the budget limitations, the other issue I have with the film is Willis’ character. He’s supposed to be an ex-cop, turned ex-con who is very difficult to kill. I don’t think enough effort has been made to convince us that this old guy is unkillable and Willis ain’t exactly “Unbreakable” at this point, is he? Cast Jason Statham, Scott Adkins, JCVD or Dolph Lundgren in the part and I’d buy it.

 

A terrific Neal McDonough performance elevates an otherwise routine “Most Dangerous Game” re-run. To be honest, the film doesn’t deserve McDonough’s commitment. At any rate, it’s watchable but very cheaply done. I’m probably being a bit generous with my grade, but I’ve seen a lot worse Willis films, both early and recent.

 

Rating: C+