1 out of 5

Directed by: Steven C. Miller

Not bad – some of Miller’s movies are – just, wow, so incredibly boring.  Miller specializes in the modern era of DTV, low-budget actioners, all buddied up with a set production circle (Grindstone Entertainment / Randall Emmett / George Furia) and Lionsgate, and all with a disposable, put-yer-name-on-the-front-cover, 5-minute appearance by a name star like, hey, Bruce Willis.  The lead is generally B- or C-level, earning a paycheck; in this case, it’s Hayden Christensen.  But despite how snarky all that sounds, there is a craft to putting these things together so quickly (13 days in this case) and resulting in something fairly professional looking, and to be fair, Miller has absolutely progressed in his skills.  But its almost worked against him: his refraining from indulgence has sucked out any zip to the minimal action in the film, and it’s so deadpan in its presentation of its script as to prevent even the slightest bit of viewer interest.  All while, from a technical level and in terms of framing and focus – though editing is still a bit dodgy at points, but that can be an effect of cutting around limited shots – this is Miller’s most accomplished film.  It almost looks like it could be a real movie at points.  (Again, that’s snark / not snark: you can generally tell when these things aren’t big screen flicks, but First Kill has a level of comfort that’s convincing.)

But.  Boring.

Hayden Christensen and his there-to-be-kidnapped son and there-to-worry-about wife take a vacation to a small town in which Bruce Willis is the sheriff and there’s a dangerous bank robber in town, so be careful, y’all!  Yes, Christensen runs afoul of the robber/s, and maybe you have no doubt as to whether or not Bruce is involved.  Like, as in, the film tells you that he is, and yet tries to somehow milk tension out of revealing it later.  Okay.

Car chase, guns fired.  Hayden commits, Bruce is actually awake.