One Shot

An adrenaline-fuelled & macho-flavoured B-movie action fare that delivers exactly what the package advertised, One Shot is a competently crafted genre romp that packs a simple plot and executes it with skill & flair. And despite the gung-ho attitude & 'Murica crap, it manages to be a tense & thrilling affair, thanks to its no-nonsense action & fluid camerawork.

Directed by James Nunn, the story unfolds in real time with the camera capturing the events and following our characters around in a way that gives it the appearance of being shot in a single unbroken take. It sure is a gimmick but it does add to the immediacy of the chaos and keeps us invested in the proceedings while also heightening the tension & suspense at times.

The camera manoeuvres through the spaces in slick & smooth fashion and the neat editing deftly masks the various scene breaks. The drama & performances are serviceable at best but Scott Adkins plays his part with conviction. However, the film loses momentum and begins to go downhill after that big explosion, not to mention that the ending feels a tad drawn out as well.

Overall, One Shot does what it set out to do and does it in style. It is a surprisingly well made example of its genre that's quite aware of its strengths & limitations, and gets ample mileage out of its straightforward premise. Scoring high on action, violence & body counts, this is one solid actioner that plays out like a video game and offers an entertainment that's at least satisfying if not wholly rewarding.

"One Shot" is an intense action film. It does appear to be shot in one continuous shot, which makes it unusual for a film of this genre. The constant shots and frequent explosions will provide a lot of adrenaline.

I had no expectations to this 2021 action thriller from writer Jamie Russell and director James Nunn. I hadn't even heard about the movie prior to watching it. However, I saw that the movie had Scott Adkins in the lead role, and with it being a movie I hadn't already seen, of course I opted to sit down and watch "One Shot".

And while the storyline and plot in "One Shot" was essentially very simple and didn't have all that much going on in it, then "One Shot" was actually still a rather enjoyable movie. Why? Well, the sheer amount of action in the movie, and the way that the action scenes were filmed. It totally worked in favor of the movie, and made me feel like I was right there in the action.

"One Shot" had two actors that I was familiar with, and that was Scott Adkins and Ryan Philippe. But I will say that they had gotten together a good cast ensemble for the movie, and the actors and actresses were putting on good performances to bring the movie to life on the screen.

"One Shot" certainly was entertaining and enjoyable, I will say that. However, this is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing, as there simply isn't enough material and contents to the storyline to support multiple viewings.

My rating of "One Shot" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Here you have it, your "One Shot". You will enjoy non-stop action for 1,5 hours. The fighting scenes, hand-to-hand combat and the explosions are very well executed. Everybody will say off course that the plot and screenplay was a bit simple. But who cares? This movie is fast paced and will never get bored. Regarding the acting, Ashley Greene stands out as the tough and steady Zoey, the mysterious CIA analyst. And Scott Adkins as Jake, leader of the SEAL time, also delivers an outstanding performance. The scenes inside the building to the chasing from block to block, against the raining of gunshots and the transition from one set-up to another is done in one flow. Astonishing. If you have seen "Unbreakable", you know the storyline. The execution however is totally different. Conclusion: if you like action movies, this is a must.

Scott Adkins is the reliable, taciturn star of low-budget action flicks that Steven Seagal still thinks he is. The man is a legit martial artist. He looks tough, yet smart enough to be the hero of any sort of action flick he's offered, whether grounded in kick-boxing, organized crime or, as here, soldiering. Adkins leads a S. E. A. L. team deployed to a black-site island prison to transport a suspected terrorist to Washington ASAP. He supposedly knows what's needed to prevent an imminent nuclear attack in a major American city. His crew brings a civilian agent (Ashley Greene) to try to coax the intel from the detainee, since a period of "extreme interrogation" failed. The guy running the place (Ryan Phillipe) resents the hell out of this insulting intrusion on his domain and resists the extraction order, despite the claimed urgency and scale of the threat.

Horrible timing. Before they can leave, a horde of heavily-armed, disciplined terrorists crashes the party (literally and figuratively), killing the guards, destroying the means of exit, and cutting off communications before reinforcements could be summoned. They want the same inmate for whatever their end-game may be, regardless of the body count on either side.

What follows is a long, large-scale shootout between a horde of bad guys, amplified by the other prisoners they set free, and a greatly outnumbered and outgunned cluster of Adkins-led defenders. The clash plays out somewhat like a video game through the large, maze-like complex, both indoors and out, racking up a massive body count of anonymous characters, plus casualties among those we know by name and care about.

Adkins does what Adkins does as convincingly as ever. I started this review by calling him reliable for a reason. His brand of predictable is a significant asset, not a critique. The dude delivers exactly what his fans expect of him, which is largely a high score on the adrenaline scale that minimizes cerebral exertion. Here's a satisfying example for your guilty-pleasure enjoyment.