BOUNTY KILLER (review)

BOUNTY KILLER

Starring Matthew Marsden, Christian Pitre and Gary Busey

In the far future, the world has been devastated by a corporate takeover of the government and years of war have left our resources diminished and the planet, mostly uninhabitable. The American coasts have burned to the ground, leaving only the barren desert for nomads and gypsies. But there is hope for the public; bounty killers have been enlisted by the Counsel of Nine to take down CEO’s and corporate leaders who are wanted for tax evasion and other crimes against the public. These killers are greedy for body count and are seen as celebrities with hoards of people clamoring for their autographs or a photo with them. But now, a bounty killer known as Drifter (Matthew Marsden), has a bounty on his own head, and he must try to make it across The Badlands in order to appeal his case to the counsel.

Full of every trope and trick in the book, Henry Saine’s BOUNTY KILLER is a moderately action-packed movie that boasts big guns and big breasted babes. Seemingly made to strictly appeal to heterosexual fanboys who like post-apocalyptic tales of fast cars and violence, BOUNTY KILLER overloads on all of these things to satisfy that crowd while attempting to cover up its flaws with bright colours and quick movement. We will not be fooled though.

Drifter and Mary Death (Christian Pitre) seem to be at odds with one another; they are two bounty hunters both competing for the kill and cash rewards, but of course there is the obligatory love story that threatens the already thin underlying plot. Being an ex-gypsy, Mary Death has more to run from than just the corporate thugs, as her old caravan is after her as well. Once a gypsy, always a gypsy, I think the saying goes. And of course no buddy adventure story would be complete without the overweight hairy sidekick, a la Zach Galafianakis variety, played here by Barak Hardley. Why is it that every comedy movie must add this pointless character whose only purpose is to get drunk and make observations about the situation the characters are in? Added possibly as a form of comic relief for a rather dry script, Hardley’s constant whining and interjections get quickly tiresome and annoying.

BOUNTY KILLER has been described as a cross between THE ROAD WARRIOR and KILL BILL, which is a rather bold statement for yet another tired post-apocalyptic film that looks like it was made by a director (Henry Saine) who has spent far too long in front of his television playing “Borderlands” or watching My Chemical Romance music videos. BOUNTY KILLER definitely won’t be for everyone, and there are probably better titles out there that do the same thing.