I avoided "Big Game" around the time of its release as word-of-mouth was less than encouraging. I'd thoroughly enjoyed Jalmari Helander's "Rare Exports", and continue to do so with a viewing every Christmas, but I had to trust audience opinion on his follow up, right? Well, I shouldn't have; not on this occasion any way. Much like "Rare Exports", this is a heightened tale of hunting which takes place on photogenic landscapes and well designed studio sets. Its strength lies in inventive action set pieces and the entire production is arguably superior to similar fare such as John Woo's "Hard Target" and "Broken Arrow". The instances of hand to hand combat are the only moments which disappoint ever so slightly, but those are few and far between. Helander has a fine grasp on cinematic technique. His blocking and framing offers up strong imagery, even with inserts. The quality of the photography only seems to dip with some of the 2nd unit aerial shots. Samuel L. Jackson collects another paycheck proving that not only is he 'The Man' but that he's also 'The Man' that's always better than the material he's given. Jackson might receive top billing but the movie's lead character, Oskari, is performed by the excellent Onni Tommila ("Rare Exports"). He's outstanding in a dual language role that's more demanding than Jackson's both physically and emotionally. The cast is also loaded with solid support from Ray Stevenson, Felicity Huffman, Victor Garber, Ted Levine and Jim Broadbent, who chews a great big sandwich - and plenty of scenery - as CIA consultant, Fred Herbert. It's a welcome throwback to action thrillers that used to dominate in the 90s starring the likes of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Seagal and Van Damme. Wish I'd seen this sooner.
Review of Big Game
