Najemnik

After retiring from the army, former soldier Jim Harper travels to Germany with a group of mercenaries to stop a dangerous scientist and his research. Only too late does he discover that it's a lot more complicated than that, and that there's no way he's going back home. While The Contractor tries to pass itself off as an action film, the action is minimal. Instead, the film takes its time with boring heroes and philosophizing about how difficult it is to leave the military for civilian life. Unfortunately, as a drama it works even worse than an action movie. A boring and miserable film with nothing to offer. (11.04.2022)

Unexpected hit! The biggest fail of the whole film is probably the rating here. (in Rotten Tomatoes is 75%). The movie comes across as a mix of Bourne, Clancy, Ryan and others, but who cares. It's not some underfunded crap with terrible actors, cheap visuals and bad action, everything works here, but already saw similar stuff elsewhere a few years back, so I'm happy for any tactical military action movie. The film nicely shows that even if you serve your country for a few years, you can lose absolutely everything in an instant, and that's the situation Chris Pine finds himself in, with enforcers on his ass and nothing to support his family – right from the start, any normal person must immediately empathise with the protagonist. The only way out of this is one secret black ops mission that doesn't go to plan and the consequences are fatal. I'm happy with the premise, it feels realistic and authentic and thus I view it more as an actual ongoing mission than a movie. I was immediately impressed by the great details of the film: the elaborate equipment of the unit, the modern gear with all the trimmings, it can make any military fan grin from ear to ear). The sound design of the weapons is very good, and Pine behaves intelligently, exactly as a man with that experience should behave, but most of all, he is wounded, exhausted, physically absolutely fucked up, and the viewer has the uncomfortable feeling that his life is on the line. It's also R-rated, so there are a few grittier shots (the shootout in the woods with the cops is very intense), and there's some nice action in Berlin in broad daylight and a few minor elimination fights. I have to praise the music, it was such a blast that it stomped the whole of Dune into the ground (some scenes reminded me of the the recent Ambulance). There is one minor twist and one superbly acted emotional situation in a car park. Ben Foster also gives a very strong performance. The atmosphere is thick as hell, I enjoyed it a lot, found it quite suspenseful and intense, I really don't know who has a problem with this film. I see only positives here. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 0/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 4/5. 8/10. (05.04.2022)

It rarely happens that immediately after a release I have a huge desire and excitement to watch a movie, but today I couldn't wait to watch The Contractor. And holy shit, I have to shake my head in disbelief at the 53% rating, because this is a gritty, uncompromising R-rated actioner with all the right stuff. Chris Pine has been a pretty boy for me up until now, but here he plays the role of a fired soldier who joins the contractors for money in an initially simple mission that goes awry, and the film goes forward like a train for a full 100 minutes. We get a perfect dynamic action, a brilliant soundtrack and excellent cinematography, we get fancy weapons, tactics, espionage and data theft and the whole film looks incredibly professional and realistic (the way of shooting, leaving messages in the TV remote, shooting your own captured agent...), something that doesn't happen very often in similar films. There's no shortage of tension and action, the characters are likeable, vigorous and even have a symbolically sketched background, so we can (within the limits for an action flick) talk about some emotional attachment and even a (classically) revenge finale. Maximum satisfaction, I got exactly what I was hoping for, and anyone who likes Jack Reacher, Jack Ryan and Tom Clancy style stuff should definitely not miss this one. (05.04.2022)

It’s certainly not as much of a disaster as Amazon’s film Without Remorse from last year. Here, the story has a clear structure and coherence. At its core, it’s a straightforward genre film that, while not offering any surprises (the twists are easily predictable), keeps the viewer engaged for its nearly two-hour runtime. Chris Pine is an excellent choice for the lead role; I fully believed the chemistry between him and Ben Foster. The thundering music by the relatively unknown Alex Belcher is also a highlight, managing to extract the maximum from minimal moments. However, I’d be cautious about the praise for the tactical action. While most of the time it feels quite realistic (kudos for the authentic sound effects of the weapons), there’s one absurdity that makes you scratch your head (the shooting ineptitude of the police tactical units being a prime example). The ending, with its significant emotional weight, worked well and posed no issues. For me, it’s 6/10. (13.04.2022)