One Shot

A tactical caper with terrorists and an uncompromising Adkins! Scott Adkins is interesting in that once a year he makes a decent film among pile of unlikeable and cheap B-movies, and I would include this in his holy trinity, Accident Man, Avengement, and One Shot. I put the film off for a long time, the trailer didn't impress me much, it seemed cheap and too routine, but out of boredom I gave it a chance and I'm surprisingly satisfied. An elite squad of Navy Seals are on a mission to transport prisoners from an island prison, and they are soon trapped and under attack by radicals who have come for the prisoners. The fact that the film is spiced up with terrorism adds a nice frisson to the whole B-movie thing, and at times I was reminded of Michael Bay's 13 Hours. The tactical shootouts on a single take are definitely better than the ones from Megaton, where you can't see shit, so the film won me over in that regard as well. Yeah, in some aspects the film is stupid, the truck that arrives with the radicals has perhaps a recruit factory inside, because with the original 30 there are another 150there, but if you ignore that, you can definitely enjoy the film without thinking about it. The action feels realistic, though the fights are admittedly very few by Adkins' standards, but the last one was worth it, and the long stealth action in the style of “Splinter Cell” is a delight, with Adkins dispatching one opponent after another with his knife. The squad also behaves professionally and the main villain is an incredibly unlikeable radical bastard, so I think the makers delivered more than they could to the audience on a minimal budget. I won't watch it again, but it's a fine action flick for one viewing. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 2/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 3/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 3/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 3/5. 7.5/10. (11/01/2022)

The film is about the clash between light and darkness in an underfunded subsidiary of Guntanámo, Inc., located on a Polish island. The plot doesn't really offer anything new. There are sneaky terrorists on one side and heroic American commandos on the other, and the rest is obvious. It was incredibly annoying how the Seals constantly reminded everyone around them about their wives, children, and other family values they would defend along with freedom and their country at any cost, but most of all, how they wanted to return to them. From such speeches, an experienced viewer can suspect that there won't be many returns, which is a great opportunity for many tear-jerking moments. I was surprised by the weak defense of such an important facility (the arrival of the Seals increased the defense by at least eighty percent). What was even more surprising was how many terrorists could fit in a standard truck. Impressive. The screenplay wasn't anything special, the budget was obviously low. However, the action scenes were quite decent. I wonder how it would look with better funding. 3*- (20/01/2022)