Captain Joe Glass gets a new command, and the Navy hands him a job nobody else wants: find out why a U.S. submarine vanished in the Arctic. Gerard Butler plays Glass, and Gary Oldman plays the admiral who sends him there. What starts as a routine search turns into a race against a Russian coup that could start World War III. The premise is big. The execution is not.
“Hunter Killer” is a 2018 action thriller directed by Donovan Marsh, based on the 2012 novel “Firing Point” by Don Keith and George Wallace. It follows a submarine crew and a group of Navy SEALs as they try to rescue the kidnapped Russian president from a military base in the Arctic. The film stars Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, Toby Stephens, Common, Linda Cardellini and David Gyasi, among others. It was released in the United States on October 26, 2018, by Summit Premiere.
Trailer, via Lionsgate Movies.
The Premise That Should Work
The setup is simple and effective. A U.S. submarine disappears while following a Russian vessel. A new captain gets the job of figuring out what happened. Then a coup breaks out, and suddenly the whole world is on edge. That kind of geopolitical tension can drive a movie. This one just does not build it.
The film spends too much time on the mechanics of submarine warfare and not enough on the stakes. The audience knows the president is in danger, but the movie keeps explaining the basics of sonar and periscopes instead of showing the clock ticking down.
The Cast Is Strong, the Writing Isn’t
Gerard Butler carries the film with a gruff intensity that fits the material. Gary Oldman plays the admiral with the right mix of menace and concern. Toby Stephens and Common round out the SEAL team with solid support. Linda Cardellini and David Gyasi also get their chances to shine.
But the script, written by Arne Schmidt and Jamie Moss, never gives them much to work with. The dialogue is flat, the exposition is heavy, and the action sequences feel like placeholders between set pieces rather than the point of the story. The film is full of actors doing competent jobs in a movie that does not know what it wants to be.
The Coup That Never Lands
The central threat is a Russian defense minister staging a coup to push the country into war. That should be tense. Instead, the film treats it as a plot device. The SEALs watch it happen, report back, and the movie moves on. There is no sense of urgency, no sense of the clock running out, no sense of the people involved making hard choices under pressure.
The kidnapping of the president is supposed to be the emotional core. It is not. The film shows the SEALs finding the president, but it does not show what the coup means for the man himself or for the country he represents. The president is a figure on a screen, not a person whose fate matters.
The Submarine Chase That Misses
The centerpiece of any submarine movie is the chase scene. “Hunter Killer” has one, and it is poorly executed. A Russian submarine ambushes the USS Arkansas beneath an iceberg, and the Arkansas retaliates. The scene is supposed to be tense. It is not. The camera work is choppy, the editing is quick, and the action is hard to follow. The payoff comes too fast, and the audience never feels the weight of the moment.
The film also spends too much time on the wreckage of the lost submarine and the sunken Russian vessel. The debris is meant to suggest sabotage, but the movie does not explain why the sabotage matters or what it changes for the characters. It just lingers on the images and moves on.
The SEAL Team That Gets Left Behind
The SEAL team led by Lieutenant Bill Beaman has a difficult mission: observe a Russian naval base without being detected. They succeed, barely. A Russian officer shoots one of their men in the leg during a radio check, and the team has to leave him behind. The scene is meant to be tense. It is not. The injury happens off-screen, and the aftermath is rushed. The SEALs move on, and the audience is left wondering what happened to the man they left behind.
The film also includes a Navy SEAL named Martinelli, who is shot during the radio intercept check. The movie never explains what happens to him after that. The SEAL team leaves him behind, and the audience is left to assume he dies. That is a strange choice for a film about a rescue mission. The SEALs are supposed to be the heroes. Leaving one behind without explanation undermines that.
The Admiral Who Doesn’t Matter
Admiral Charles Donnegan is supposed to be the voice of reason in Washington. He sees the coup and recommends war preparations. Rear Admiral John Fisk disagrees and suggests a different course. The film sets up a conflict between the two admirals, but it never delivers on it. Donnegan remains a figure on a screen, not a character with real opinions or real stakes.
The film also includes a character named Devin Hall, who is part of the submarine crew. Hall is a minor figure, and the film does not give him much to do beyond his role on the boat. The same is true of the other crew members, including Jimenez, Matt Johnstone, XO Brian Edwards, Paul Martinelli, Belford and Jane Norquist. They exist to fill out the bridge, not to drive the story.
The Reviewers Agreed
The film bombed at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics. One review called it “an undemanding, by-the-numbers actioner.” That assessment holds up. The film is undemanding of the audience, and it plays by the numbers without ever adding anything original.
The movie is not terrible. It is just forgettable. The action is competent, the cast is capable, and the premise is strong. None of that adds up to a film that stays with you. It is the kind of movie you watch, walk away from, and immediately forget.
The Numbers Behind the Film
- Title: Hunter Killer
- Year: 2018
- Director: Donovan Marsh
- Screenplay: Arne Schmidt, Jamie Moss
- Based on: “Firing Point” by Don Keith and George Wallace
- Lead: Gerard Butler
- Supporting: Gary Oldman, Toby Stephens, Common, Linda Cardellini, David Gyasi
- Release date: October 26, 2018
- Studio: Summit Premiere
- Runtime: 121 minutes
- Score: 4.3/10
The film is a disappointment. It has the pieces of a great submarine thriller: a strong lead, a tense setting, and a crisis that could change the world. It just never puts those pieces together in a way that matters. The action is competent, the cast is capable, and the premise is strong. None of that adds up to a film that stays with you. It is the kind of movie you watch, walk away from, and immediately forget.
4.3 of 10.
| Element | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Premise | Strong but underdeveloped |
| Acting | Capable across the board |
| Screenplay | Flat, heavy on exposition |
| Action | Competent but poorly paced |
| Stakes | Missing entirely |
| Final verdict | Undemanding, by-the-numbers |
The film is a failure of ambition. It wanted to be a tense geopolitical thriller, and it ended up being a submarine movie with a plot that never lands. Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman do what they can with weak material, and the result is a film that is easy to watch and impossible to remember.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
