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.

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.

. . . action; too many corpses: too many fights! All this being said, the bottom line is that the film is quite watchable and entertaining. Believable characters are both the good guys and the bad ones too.

It's called One Shot because they only have one shot to stop a terrorist plot, but also, because the entire movie was filmed in one take! That takes a lot of work and skill to create and I'm sure is exhausting, yet this is novice filmmaker James Nunn's first writing credit, and his 5th full length feature film directorial credit. And he did not disappoint.

At first it will feel like you're behind a player in Call of Duty, and then it's like you're right there, behind the action, turning your head to whoever is talking or shooting. It's kinda epic and magical when you really think about it. It's non stop energy, excitement and suspense. Obviously the pacing is fast, so the 96 min runtime flies by quickly.

Then add the excellent tactical action choreography, cinematography and special effects, plus the outstanding, convincing and commanding performances ny all - especially Scott Adkins, and you'll be on the edge of your seat the entire time. I'm pretty sure I forgot to breath a bunch of times.

My only complaint was that I wanted more story and not as much shooting, which seemed to be the majority of the film. But nevertheless, if you're into this genre, you will not be disappointed. Hats off to Nunn for giving us this amazing action film. It's a well deserved 8/10 from me.

For the B movie - this is the good one. Nice realistic gun and fist fights, amazing cameraman and choreography work, good CGI. No wokism or PC BS. Predictable and enjoyable action. Minus for 200 people in one truck and some cheese. Rare find in modern agendas-ruled cinema.