Amazing b-movie-esque action with A-movie gloss and acting | The Hunted (Widescreen Edition)

DVD: The Hunted (Widescreen Edition) | Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro

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	• The Hunted (Widescreen Edition) Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro Paramount, 2003 average customer review:based on 147 reviews view larger image
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Imitator and not a follower.

The Hunted is a fine chase picture which delivers what audiences want and what anyone would expect in this particularly story which is straight forward; A former "Special Ops" Operator Aaron Hallum(Benicio del Toro) goes on a killing spree after suffering from PTSD. The FBI enlists the man who trained Hallum in order to track him down, LT. Bonham Tommy Lee Jones.

As I said, the film delivers in being a chase picture. Hallum is always one step ahead and Jones is none too far behind. What I appreciate about the film is the fine pacing, it dives right on in into the action with everything unfolding. William Friedken, director of some the finest action films in film history such as The French Connection and To Live and Die in LA, is naturally up to snuff when it comes to the car chases and major action sequences. However what keeps this film from perfection ? A lack of originality. There are just too many echoes from films such as Rambo and The Fugitive without the critical psychological aspects. Hallum is a Rambo clone but we don't know why he goes on his blood bath; The film tries to suggest, I think, that he is disgusted by senseless slaughter but that's exactly what he does during the entire film. Also the biggest annoyance of the film by far was why LT. Bonham ignored Hallums pleas for comfort. We even saw the numerous letters Hallum sent being burned by Bonham at the end of the film. Bonham stated he never killed anyone, does he just sever the ties to his students once he was done with them ? Is he even disgusted by what any of them do with the knowledge he teaches them ? We don't know and the film doesn't seem to care.

I would recommend this film simply for the well done chase sequences and terrific knife play but this film could have been a lot more than a plagiarism of better films.

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Amazing b-movie-esque action with A-movie gloss and acting

I was lucky enough to see parts of this film on AMC last month and - enjoying what I had seen - got the full movie and watched it shortly after. This is a truly phenomenal flick and I'm not exactly sure why it's gotten such poor reviews. The performances from Jones and Del Toro are phenomenal - Jones, who normally is known for his sarcastic and wise-cracking protagonist roles - takes a more Charles Bronson-esque world-weary loner approach for this character, and Del Toro is incredible as well.

Though similar to First Blood in plot and tone, The Hunted is far more visceral and sets up the plot brilliantly by leaving it open to audience interpretation whether Aaron Hallum (Del Toro) is really being hunted by government operatives for being a threat to their secrecy, or whether Aaron is really just a paranoid psycho due to his psychological damage from his military time. In the end, however, the film implies that whatever is the case, it is ultimately the responsibility of the government and its violence war machinations. A subtle anti-war, anti-violence message.
The film also features incredible cinematography (the woods and waterfall settings are gorgeous) and stunning knife fights and truly intense violence - not for the faint of heart, especially Jose Zuniga's disturbing death near the end of the film. All in all, an amazing flick.

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Directed by Academy Award winner William Friedkin, THE HUNTED follows FBI agent Abby Durrell (Nielson) and her new recruit, L.T. Bonham (Jones) - a specialist in deep-woods tracking, as they team up to track and hunt down trained assassin, Aaron Hallam (Del Toro), who made a sport out of fatally shooting deer hunters in the forests outside Portland, Oregon. Using his well-honed nature skills to locate Hallam, Bonham soon finds himself and his partner lured into a gut-wrenching game of cat and mouse. With ruthless precision and murderous skill, Hallam remains one step ahead of his pursuers as Bonham and Durrell try to outwit him in the natural and urban wildernesses before Hallem turns them into his next victims.

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