Apex

Wow, who knew that a movie that had both Neal McDonough and Neal McDonough on the cast list could be that bad? Let's not beat around the bush here. "Apex" was an abysmal movie from writers Edward Drake and Corey Large.

The storyline is about a group of hunters that pay to go to a remote island to hunt human prey for sports. Oh wow, how very original. Yeah, it is not like that has been done a hundred times before director Edward Drake got to the helm of "Apex". Right.

Not only was the storyline unoriginal in "Apex", it was also downright boring and bland. And this was by no means up to what you usually expect and get from the likes of Neal McDonough or Bruce Willis. Not even by a long shot.

This movie offered nothing enjoyable or entertaining really throughout the 1 hour and 34 minutes that it trotted on and on for. So making it through to the end, to the insanely predictable and generic end that is, is quite the accomplishment. I managed to do so, but boy was it a struggle.

Even the acting performances in "Apex" were sluggish, and it felt like both Neal McDonough and Bruce Willis were here just to make a quick buck. Their performances were subpar and cringeworthy at times.

You might want to do yourself a favor and stay well clear of "Apex", because it is simply not worth the time, effort or money.

My rating of "Apex" lands on a generous two out of ten stars.

What stands out immediately is the potential. It could at least be entertaining, a kill or be killed human hunting sci fi thriller like The Hunt from 2020, which was superb. But no such luck. Bruce Willis walks around the forest doing nothing but quipping one-liners in a bright red jacket while six supposedly skilled (bored) rich people show up to stalk the ultimate prey. The character they "wrote" for Willis is an incarnation of John McClane that seems to have been lobotomized.

No spoilers, but if you're looking for action, you might find five minutes worth in the whole movie, spread out in tiny bits that are never satisfying or even well executed. The majority of the film's "plot" is an incoherent jumble of poorly developed characters and cringeworthy scenery chewing. The master hunter, played by Neal McDonough, is as two dimensional and contrived as any antagonist I've ever seen or read.

There are a few bright spots, which is why I gave it 2/10. Alexia Fast is the one casting success in that she doesn't suck. The cgi and sets are passable, barring a completely stupid (fatal) landmine explosion. The editing is sufficient. That's it.

So don't torture yourself with this steaming pile of wasted opportunities. Watch The Hunt instead, or anything. Paint drying. Grass growing. You get the idea.

I see people saying this is a remake of "Surviving the Game" or other similar movies but it was "The Most Dangerous Game" that was the original (1932) based on the book that all those movies are trying to copy.

However this is probably the worst version. First, Bruce Willis is supposed to be some super tough guy yet at no point do we see anything that gives us the impression that he's a super tough guy. He does everything stupidly (the red jacket in the forest, walking around in plain site). We do not see him do anything super tough outside a couple quick things that really show us nothing. At no point is he believable as this super tough guy who shows them all up.

The hunters are all morons who you do not believe have the slightest ability to hunt. They also do nothing that shows they have the skill that are implied. It's all a bunch of morons, all stupid and uninteresting. It was a pain to get through this awful movie.

There is no way the whole island can be covered with cameras so there would definitely be spots someone could hide in. It's a giant island, if someone wanted to hide from the few stupid hunters with no actual hunting skill it would not be hard. And the girl that puts it all on who appears in holograms is dreadfully awful on top. I mean can you cast one part with someone believable?

I try to give anything with Willis a try but seriously, he lost it a long time ago. This is one of his worst.

Bruce Willis had forgotten how to act. Horrible movie. Its almost as if they made this movie as a joke. McDonough is wasted. The rest are no namers that can't act. The song at 49 minutes is wholly misplaced, throws the whole scene off. Skip this!

I am already aware that Bruce Willis has gone down the road of Nicholas Cage in mass producing bunch of cheap low budget films. However, being a Willis fan, I thought I'll give him some benefit of the doubt. Both Breach and Cosmic Sin was just down right worst film I've ever seen.

However, when I read the synopsis of this film, I thought that it was simple and much easier to accomplish for an action film. How can they mess this up? It is basically rich people hunt humans for fun and instead they have no idea they signed up an "action" hero who will turn the table on them. The idea is similar to "Surviving the Game" with Ice-T, "Running Man" with Arnold, and even the more recent "The Hunt."

You have ONE job, which is to make a fun exciting no brain action film where the action hero waste a lot of snotty bad guys. So HOW can this film fail so badly!?!?

Without giving spoilers, it is BORING BORING BORING. It just talks talks talks, while you wait for something to happen that never really happens. And the snotty bad guys? Well, you expect Willis to be the one wasting them, but instead they wasted themselves and in boring ways. BORING BORING BORING to the last minute. Even in the climax battle, it was just... YAWN.

HOW CAN ANYONE MESS UP SUCH A BASIC FORMULA IS BEYOND ME!

Sorry Willis, this is the 3rd strike. No more. $14.99 on Amazon Prime? Consider that a tip for all the wonderful films you have made in the past which entertained me.