Recently, Hollywood has a tendency taking classical characters or storylines and giving it a hilarious boost. My brain is still tormented by memories of 2014’s Dracula Untold movie, where Dracula resembled Goku from Dragon Ball rather than the legendary Count. So, when I read that Richard Connell‘s 1924 classic short story The Most Dangerous Game was going to be turned into a movie starring WWE and ECW World Champion John Hennigan I honestly cringed a bit. I didn’t know what to expect.
Without delving into the film’s plot, our hero, Rick Rainsford (Henningan), is a big game hunter on a desert island, where he has to survive bobby traps, an ex-KBG agent (Eric Etebari), and a deranged henchman (Joseph Gatt), while protecting the quintessential lady-in-distress, a photographer named Anna (Michelle Taylor).
I admit that Never Leave Alive was fun to watch. How couldn’t it be? It’s action-packed and Henningan looks like he loves playing that tough guy role, where he kicks ass and gets the girl. He does a successful job at carrying the plot during its dull moments. Joseph Gatt also does a good job of portraying the crazy henchman. No surprise there because he is a great character actor.
I think Never Leave Alive’s main issue is not the story. The concept of the film isn’t original. Does it make a bad film because of that flaw? Not necessarily. However, the film doesn’t have any refreshing plot twists. A good movie should aspire to leave a print in the viewer’s mind and I just don’t get that from Never Leave Alive. Perhaps it’s me trying to search for things that aren’t there, but I think a movie that has to do with human suffering should have a bit more depth.
Overall, Never Leave Alive is a fun little film that is enjoyed the most when you don’t have anything interesting to do. The setting is good, Henningan is on point as Rainsford, the cast is strong, and the movie will help you pass the time.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bxDjHccA4w”]
Movie Rating: 3 stars.
Movie Ratings Guide
1 Star = Unwatchable
2 Stars = Cannot Recommend
3 Stars = Great for the Fans
4 Stars = A Solid Movie
5 Stars = Must Own (DVD/Stream Download)
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