The Hunted – Review

Looking into the horrors of war and specially trained soldiers, The Hunted is an okay action thriller which touches on many themes and topics, but does not go too deep into most anything. Instead, it opts to try and recreate some of the thriller elements of some previously successful films of the past, and only succeeds so well. Despite that, it has a good cast and some well-done action with a few thrills here and there.

As a Special Operations Forces member Aaron Hallam (Del Toro) crawls through a violent late 90s Serbian genocide in Kosovo, non-stop explosions, cries for help and bullets don’t phase his concentration. He moves with purpose, knowing his target: the military leader of the Serbian army. He knows he must get close to ensure a kill. This leader assassination earns Hallam a Silver Star when back home. He tries to re-integrate into life.

Years later in Oregon, well-armed deer hunters are chasing what they think is a buck. However… the men are then taunted and tormented by a man in camouflage, wielding a special knife. This man makes short work of the hunters, killing them in a gruesome fashion. Apparently, this same type of killing happened in Washington State recently also.

L.T. Bonham (Jones) is called into action, despite having retired to a remote snowy cabin in B.C., Canada. The FBI is looking for help on the task force which has been formed to catch the suspected killer. Running the squad is Abby Durrell (Nielsen), a composed FBI agent who is determined to find justice. Bonham is quickly able to discern what kind of man did the killings, and what this situation means.

This sets off a game of cat and mouse, as Bonham goes after a man he trained in the past, with Hallam’s mind unwinding and the scars of war digging in strong to his psyche. There are some other semi-interesting elements of Hallam’s past, and military work, however they are not explored and ultimately do not alter the plot or answer a few outstanding questions about true motivations.

Despite a few shortfalls in plot logic and a few bad character moves, The Hunted is a decent action movie with some good close quarters combat and an okay take on the harrows of war, and outcome of psychological effects on soldiers. It is shot competently and features some solid performances from the veteran actors involved.