Das Herz des Jägers

Netflix have done it again, yes they have made another movie that's a stinker.

In truth I have lost count of how many Netflix films are produced by them and they end up being awful.

Let me tell you this, don't believe the reviews that are giving this movie over five stars because it's a lie.

The story is one that's been done a million times before and much better, the pacing of the movie is not good, slow at times and you find yourself checking the time, which is a bad sign.

The fight scenes, Netflix says this movie is like John Wick, it's not the fight scenes are very amateurish at best, the old you go I go fight scenes, we have move Don from those type of scenes years ago.

I wanted to like this and fell for the reps of false advertising by Netflix, I won't fall it again.

Poor characters, including the stereotypical bad rich boss and tough mercenary guy. A confusing net of allegiances and relationships all around.

Too many "filler" scenes, it looks like the editor was required to extend the movie.

On the positive sie, the action scenes are decent and the landscapes are terrific.

Something called my attention: the main character says he grew up by the Cata river (heart of Eastern Cape province) but then belongs to a secret brotherhood from Lesotho? Also, why dues he keep speaking Zulu throughout the move? Eastern Cape speaks mostly Xhosa, Lesotho speaks Sotho...

Zuko Khumalo is part of the rebel group, an ace assassin and one such job of his ends up with him feeling guilty. He quits and starts a new life, finding the love of his life and her son. He is now leading a simple life as a mechanic and soon his past finds him. This makes him the new target of PIA whose chief is in cohorts with the corrupt presidential candidate who is all about cutting the loose ends and silencing his dissenters. As the conspiracy gets too much to bear, costing him dearly, how Zuko exacts his revenge and save his loved one, forms rest of the story.

This South African action film has it's moments and when the focus is on the action alone, it works. It is the conspiracy angle that gets bit too worked up and rather less convincing with the writing getting all too convenient. It's a film with serious tone and it doesn't deviate much from the main plot. It may not boast big action sequences but the hand to hand combat followed by the one with spears and machete, Heart of the Hunter remains partly entertaining. The contrived screenplay needed better treatment and though routine, it would've felt better if the focus was on one villain, for the hero to triumph.

Oh my - that was really bad!

This was the most pointless excuse of a movie I have ever seen. I want my time back. It started off very promising and just went all the way down under the hill from there. Acting was terrible maybe because the script was so poor. So sad. I'm so angry I can't give it less than a star. The only thing worse than sitting through it to see if it would by some chance redeem itself, was the ending. Such a waste of my time, energy and electricity. Wish I had read the reviews before watching this mess. My goodness the rubbish that passes for entertainment these days is astounding. Find something else to watch!

I watched this movie because I've read most of Deon Meyer's books. I'm glad I didn't pay to see it in cinema.

The movie is dark and has a lot of action, and the photography is alright. It tries to have a complicated plot about corruption.

Unfortunately in the movie the plot is mostly an excuse for a series of stunts, punch-ups and shoot-outs. The usual fare where henchmen take one or two punches but the main bad guy can take a hundred punches and keeps coming back.

Then I read the book. It shares the title, some characters and the main corruption theme but that's where it ends. All the nuance from the book is lost in the film in favour of quick and easy solutions. I won't go into spoilers but book and movie have different story arcs and a very different ending.

So if you're not interested in much of a plot but just want to see guys beating each other up, by all means, watch the movie.

If you want a more nuanced story with interesting characters and more realistic fights, read the book.