Samuel L. Jackson stars as the U.S. president whose plane is shot down by sadistic terrorists over Finland, leaving his survival in the hands of a crafty 13-year-old boy who’s participating in a solo rite-of-passage hunting journey.Stephanie Kulbach
Samuel L. Jackson is not an actor known for his discerning tastes. The man simply likes to keep working, whether that be in genuine masterpieces such as Pulp Fiction or paycheque jobs such as RoboCop and every Marvel movie from here to Avengers: Infinity War, Part 1.
Director Jalmari Helander's action-adventure Big Game falls squarely into the latter category of easy money, though the film is not without its considerable and cultish charms.
Jackson stars as the U.S. president (so far so good) whose plane is shot down by sadistic terrorists over Finland (even better), leaving his survival in the hands of a crafty 13-year-old boy who's participating in a solo rite-of-passage hunting journey (perfect!).
Toss in a corrupt Secret Service agent (Ray Stevenson) and a Pentagon war room staffed by a peculiar mix of slumming character actors (how did they rope Jim Broadbent, Victor Garber and Felicity Huffman into this?) and you have a solid, if ridiculous, romp.
At the very least, it will tide you over until the next Nick Fury adventure.
Barry Hertz