A new action thriller starring Bruce Willis is now available to watch on demand, but you may not want to. Hard Kill is currently sitting at the infamous 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but for those of you feeling intrepid enough to check it out, this is what to expect:
Mercenaries find themselves racing the clock to stop a world-changing computer program from being triggered.
In Hard Kill’s defence, there is a caveat to lend to its 0% rating. Only 12 Tomato-certified critics have reviewed it so far, a much smaller sample size than you’d see for mainstream releases. I can also offer the fact that it clocks in at just under 100 minutes, meaning that you won’t be subjected for very long. However, awful films have a habit of making even the smallest units of time stretch into infinity, so even that may not be a positive.
A cursory browse through Bruce Willis’ recent credits provides some surprising insights into his current career choices. What stands out most is the sheer number of direct-to-DVD/direct-to VOD projects he’s starred in since 2014, by my count no less than 14. They almost entirely appear to be C-movies in the action genre, too. Did he get into a Nicolas Cage-type situation where shoddy business decisions left him needing any pay cheque he could get? Or does he just enjoy making action pics? I’d say the latter.
Remarkably, Hard Kill is his third collaboration with director Matt Eskandari in the last nine months, following on from Survive the Night and Trauma Center. The former did a little better, though, reaching the dizzying heights of 17%. What a shame the final part of the ‘trilogy’ couldn’t live up to that standard.