Shannon (Jamie King) is hiking up a mountain with hopes of releasing her father’s ashes. Along the walk, a storm begins, and Shannon questions if this is a sign that she should just turn back and try again another time. Pushing forward with determination, she continues up the mountain. But as she hikes, Shannon witnesses a horrific event, overhearing a police officer in an argument that ends in murder. Now Shannon has not only witnessed the event, but she also has photographic evidence of drugs and murder. After being spotted, Shannon goes on the run.
Nearby, retired cop Jack (Bruce Willis) is visiting a family cabin, seeking a quiet life away from the city while dealing with the loss of his wife. The first thing on Jack’s list is to take a nice walk, and he decides to leave his cell phone behind. Only carrying a handgun (because you never know what’s out there in the woods), Jack discovers Shannon, who is on the run. Now, this unlikely pair must work together and defend themselves from a group of corrupt officers.
While the plot may seem familiar, I had an open mind going in as I knew very little about this film; plus, I’m always happy to see Bruce Willis on-screen. But sadly, Out of Death is a tragic disappointment and hot mess. Performances are highly cringeworthy. Nothing here feels real, and every word spoken sounds off, wooden and unfitting. The musical score is another questionable and baffling aspect. The music feels like an attempt to sound like an early 90s movie, but again, it’s unfitting with all that’s on display.
There are moments where it’s highly obvious that Bruce Willis has been replaced with a stand-in, and in key scenes, it’s evident that it isn’t the actor himself. Atop all these other issues, the film contains simple errors, such as when Shannon takes photos without even pressing any buttons on her camera.
With a story told in chapters for no reason, the pacing often feels disjointed and incomplete. The film never has moments of fast-paced action and contains no genuinely thrilling or suspenseful scenes. Out of Death gives far too much screen time to our bad guys, who, for the most part, enjoy spending their time bickering, talking trash and my favourite- just walking around.
Overall, this is a painful and baffling film. It saddens me to say it, but there is nothing likeable about this, nothing. With wooden performances and unfitting dialogue, the film feels incomplete. There are a high number of errors in this film, including dead people breathing and multiple key moments where it’s obviously not Bruce Willis playing his character. Bad guys are given more screen time here than our heroes, and as they are uninteresting, this does very little to excite the film. Out of Death is an absolute disaster movie, and all movie lovers are encouraged to avoid this hot mess.
1.0/10
1st October 2021
Written by Peter Walkden
WALKDEN ENTERTAINMENT
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