Punto de mira

Why Mel Gibson took part in this film at all is beyond me. The movie has a lot of flaws and is bad. I laughed several times when I shouldn't have, and when I should have, I didn't. That says a lot. It's a shame because the movie could have been much, much better, it has potential considering the plot.

I give this film 2 stars for getting enough money or blackmail to compel some name actors into doing this film. I wonder if Britney Spears paid so she could cast her boyfriend, now husband, in this film. As someone else says, he laughingly acts his ass off, showing how much "chops" he has as an actor so he can be the most memorable, useless character of all with just a few minutes screen time. A dull tool.

That about explains this movie about a hacker, which has a story that couldn't even be sold 20 years ago to seniors who know almost nothing about computers and hacking. I couldn't stop laughing when Mel Gibson tries to sell something about a "DOS attack" as if it mmakes much sense in the context of this loser. Kevin Dillon, who has done some decent work, is given the hopeless task of carrying this film along with Gibson, who comes in from time to time to provide the cop shtick and he does what he can to try to sound credible. It works about half the time, the rest he's almost dialed in, brain gain. Shannon Doherty barely shows, barks orders like the police captain she is, perhaps just trying to remain relevant in film while she has unfortunately gone through her own health hell.

In the end, the villain is a laughable, non-stop babbling buffoon. If you're not watching this on a streaming where you can skip parts, you'll be in constant pain as there is little reason to want to stay for the journey since it's completely unconvincing. This is "bad Bruce Willis movie" level bad. Perhaps they needed the money. Owed a favor. I don't know but those must have been some really awful pictures the director and writers must have on the stars in this film.

Even with his resume full of filmmaking experience, director James Cullen Bressack still keeps giving us amateur C grade boring films. Once again he failed to direct his cast properly, especially Doherty. Only Gibson and Dillon (barely) held their own without cast direction. Then Bressack just kept giving us long dragged out and mostly unnecessary scenes. The writing by Leon Langford and Collin Watts was cliched, stale, inept, predictable and boring, especially making the normally comfortable 99 min film feel much longer with the slow pacing and constant computer screen garble. Don't get me started on the plot and technical issues that riddled this mess. You will lose your patience waiting for the ending credits that offer zero reward. It's a very generous 4/10 from me, mostly for the pity that Dillion and Gibson had to endure to get through this one.

Sitting down to watch the 2022 thriller "Hot Seat" from writers Leon Langford and Collin Watts, I must admit that I wasn't really harboring much of any high expectations for the movie. Sure, I thought that there could be some worth to the movie, as it had Mel Gibson and Kevin Dillon on the cast list, but the synopsis just wasn't sounding all that interesting. But alas, I opted to watch the movie and see what director James Cullen Bressack had to offer with "Hot Seat".

Sure, the movie was watchable, although it wasn't by any means an outstanding thriller. The storyline was adequate enough, though it offers nothing really that haven't been done or seen before, and thus the movie is suitable only for a single viewing. And the storyline was a tad too predictable and generic for my liking.

The acting performances in "Hot Seat" were adequate. I mean, Kevin Dillon did an okay job in the leading role, though I had expected it to be Mel Gibson in the lead, as he is a more established actor and have bigger movie titles to his name. The movie also had Eddie Steeples and Shannen Doherty on the cast list, though in minor support roles only. It was a shame really that Eddie Steeples wasn't given more time on the screen.

If you are an avid fan of the thriller genre, then you might get a bigger kick out of "Hot Seat" than I did.

My rating of "Hot Seat" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Interesting plot of the film, it is tense. The acting is quite cold and theatrical, but ok, it's not that bad, unlike the others, Mel G. Did it superbly as always. The story is tense and interesting in parts, the recording and sound are nothing special, let's say it's a passing grade. Some characters (secondary characters) are quite generic, so it's not fun at all. The action is actually interesting and does not go too fast or too slow, it just goes as it should. My overall impression is that I am actually negatively surprised because when Mel Gibson is in the movie, I expect much more from the movie. All in all this is just a mediocre time killer.