Hard Target

Directed by John Woo, Hard Target follows Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Chance Boudreaux as he finds himself in the crosshairs of a psychotic businessman (Lance Henriksen’s Emil Fouchon) who, along with his wealthy clients, hunts and kills homeless individuals for sport. It’s a promising setup that is, at the outset, employed to almost disastrously underwhelming effect by Woo, as the filmmaker, armed with Chuck Pfarrer’s screenplay, delivers a mostly uninvolving opening stretch that’s been suffused with a whole host of underwhelming attributes and elements – with, especially, Woo’s overly theatrical approach rarely working as well as one might’ve anticipated (and hoped). It’s clear, then, that Hard Target does, at the outset, benefit from its smattering of compelling interludes and the strong efforts of a better-than-average cast, and there’s little doubt, ultimately, that the movie improves considerably once it progresses into an increasingly enthralling second half – with the picture’s radical turnaround triggered by a thrilling shoot-out that segues into a larger-than-life (and thoroughly exciting) pursuit sequence. From there, Hard Target builds towards a completely absurd yet undeniably enthralling climax that ensures the whole thing concludes on an engaging, satisfying note – with the end result an uneven piece of work that contains its fair share of top-notch set pieces.

*** out of ****