The Hunter's Prayer

I stumbled across this movie while exploring Sam Worthington's filmography after seeing another one of his movies. Overall I really enjoyed it because I really enjoy anti-hero characters (Mike Sullivan in "Road to Perdition", for example). It adds to the complexity of the situation and the human condition. "Bad guy turned (almost) good guy" sort of thing is always interesting, as are stories about guys doing bad things for good reasons.

That said, I think this movie should've been flushed out a little more. I wanted more backstory. I didn't feel like we got enough information about the characters themselves. This is a good movie to watch on a lazy day if you're craving some good action, but not too much else. I liked it and will watch it again, most likely, because I'm easy to please and I really like Worthington, who was GREAT in it. I just wanted more!

We've seen similar themes many times over in movies through the years. Here Sam Worthington portrays Lucas, a hired assassin and drug addict who can't bring himself to kill his next assignment, who's the 16-year-old Ella, played by Odeya Rush. Of course, this makes the man who hired Lucas (Allen Leech) very unhappy and so Lucas and Ella must try and escape through Europe from those killers who want to eliminate them.

There's plenty of wooden dialogue and formulaic plot elements here. However on the positive side I was interested enough in the film to want to see how it would all turn out, and it does present its viewers with quite the poignant ending.

Overall, nothing really new here for this genre, but the pacing kept me engaged throughout.

The movie is not boring and it's decent for a thriller. However, I feel like there's something missing. Maybe I'm too old but a while ago, film makers could add that magic ingredient that makes a movie not seem cheap.

For some reason this thriller is fairly involving and you want to see what happens - but it isn't a must watch.

Sam Worthington is the assassin turned protector and he has a rather inexpressive face. Bland and emotionless. Don't think he conveyed a junkie convincingly. His accent is hard to understand.

Odeya Rush reminds of a younger Mila Kunis - quite appealing.

The actor Allen Leech who plays the villain acted as the chauffeur Tom from Downton Abbey. He isn't convincing - can't help thinking of him as the help of the bad guy rather than the evil bad guy.

The chase via car and train etc through a rather bleak wintry Europe is unnecessarily unattractive..

Crime/action movie. A paid killer sees that his next target is a young girl, the daughter of a target of his boss. He cannot kill her and eventually undertakes to flee and protect her, making them both targets. Sam Worthington, a very good actor, perfectly attributes the inner strife of a paid murderer and protector like a father, being himself the father of a daughter. The film has enough suspense up to a point where it gradually drops pace unfortunately and has an expected end. It could have become of the top films in the genre with a little more work. However it is quite good and is recommended.