Take Cover Review

An intermittently thrilling actioner, Take Cover is at its best when it stops trying to emulate starrier films with bigger budgets. Taken at face value it’s a solid thriller, and considering it’s ostensibly the directorial debut for former stunt co-ordinator Nick Mckinless, it’s an impressive effort.

The story is simple and all the better for it. Scott Adkins and Jack Parr play mercenaries Sam and Ken, respectively a sniper and his spotter. Ken has a fairly cavalier attitude to his job, whereas Sam has something of a moral code, determined only to take out bad guys (and if that seems a bit of a stretch then this isn’t the film for you). Following a hit gone wrong, Sam decides to pack it in after one last job, much to Ken’s annoyance. However, things quickly go wrong as the assassins find themselves trapped in their hotel room, in the sight of snipers in the buildings opposite. The hunter has become the hunted.

While McKinless tries to capture the playful tone of something like Bullet Train in early scenes, with the actors casually chatting while on the job, the film works a lot better when it just plays it straight. The banter and irreverent dialogue rings false, and the two leads are not equipped with sufficient charisma to elevate the material. Without putting too fine a point on it, Ryan Reynolds they are not.

It’s not enough to just demonstrate that these guys are very good at their jobs, you have to also make them likeable, and unfortunately Parr’s cocky arrogance and surface-level characterisation never really bridge this gap. Adkins is more successful but saddled with a not-very-good American accent and an overly earnest expression (for a mercenary he’s hopelessly naive). Alice Eve vamps it up a storm as the pair’s smarmy handler, although the decision to hide her face for most of the film is a little perplexing given how it is all over the trailers and promotional material.

The dialogue may be a little uninspired, but the story is engaging and tightly paced. Crucially, there’s no sense of complacency – everyone involved is giving it their all, and McKinless injects a real sense of forward momentum into proceedings, never letting the energy sag. Inevitably, McKinless excels in the action sequences, using his limited budget to his advantage. The close-quarters fight scenes are breathtaking, but just as thrilling are the moments where the heroes must use every trick they know to avoid the sights of their would-be assassins. Trapping the heroes in one claustrophobic location and restricting their movements is cost-effective, but also brings an ever-present feeling of suspense, and there is something irresistible about watching our heroes navigate the room, and play the villains at their own game.

Tonally though, it’s a little uneven. One of the hired masseuses (Madalina Bellariu Ion) condemns the mercenaries for the life of violence they have chosen, which may be morally correct but comes at a very strange time considering their predicament. Despite this the action sequences are slickly choreographed spectacles, with some brutal kills; conceived to entertain the audience. It wants to have its cake and eat it, morally speaking, delivering enjoyable action sequences while also delivering a “violence is wrong” message.

When the moral chin-stroking and masculine posturing stops and the action takes over, Take Cover is a lot of fun. It may never quite hit the heights of films like Bullet Train or The Raid, (save for some ittedly tense set pieces) and it’s riddled with genre cliches, bland dialogue, and lacklustre characterisation. That being said, the restricted setting and impressive stunts make this a solid enough actioner, even if it doesn’t linger long in the memory.

★★ 1/2

Now available on Digital Platforms and DVD / Scott Adkins, Alice Eve, Jack Parr, Madalina Bellariu Ion, Billy Clements / Dir: Nick McKinless / Signature Entertainment / 15