Hunter Killer: A canful of manliness

By Katherine Monk

Gerard Butler emanates a manly musk so potent, it transcends the limits of a motion picture screen. It also demands a movie title like “Hunter Killer.”

The fact that Hunter Killer is also another name for an attack submarine doesn’t really matter. The title fits what Butler serves up on a silver platter: A full serving of manliness in a great big can, which is fortunate, given the movie is about a full crew of burly sailors in a great big can.

Butler plays Joe Glass, Captain to a US Navy submarine called into action after one of its sister ships goes missing after an encounter with a Russian boat. It appears as though the Russians and the Americans exchanged fire, but before there’s a declaration of war, the US President (played in this fiction by a woman, Caroline Goodall) demands answers. It’s up to Glass and a team of elite commandos dropped over Russian airspace to find out the truth before it’s too late.

The title fits what Butler serves up on a silver platter: A full serving of manliness in a great big can, which is fortunate, given the movie is about a full crew of burly sailors in a great big can.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Gary Oldman) wants to gear up for war, but when he discovers the Russian President is being held hostage by his own military, and a rogue Admiral is staging a coup, he allows Glass and his crew to attempt a rescue.

Of course, that requires a stealth mission through hostile waters, but with a little help from the handful of commandos, there’s no reason why one US submarine couldn’t take on a Russian base full of armed soldiers.

At least the script acknowledges the incredulity of the premise. Glass has to make the argument for the insane mission to his crew, especially the snotty Annapolis grad serving as his first officer, who consistently points out how unorthodox Glass’s approach is — and who inevitably ends up nodding his head in grateful disbelief when it all works out.

At least the script acknowledges the incredulity of the premise.

Not to be a plot spoiler or anything, but this throwback to Cold War genre has its ending stitched into every scene. Director Donovan Marsh wanted to re-stage a Hunt for Red October and relaunch Das Boot with some macho rounds of “booyah” thrown in. And it’s all there, squished into a rigid container, looking for action in a sea of clutter.

Hunter Killer sticks to the dependable crowd-pleasing moments: images of submarines plunging to the depths with sonar sound effects, or soaring to the surface and crashing through ice cover like a breaching whale. The latter is so popular, YouTube videos showing black conning towers piercing a snow white landscape rack up millions of views — and Donovan Marsh was probably one of those, given how many shots of icy penetration he concocts for the big screen.

Submarines, it seems, retain a mystery that other ships have lost over the years because they’re still not a part of our everyday landscape. More alluring still, they access primal fears of being confined in a life-threatening environment. Something goes wrong on a submarine, and you’re living out the watery equivalent of being buried alive.

Submarines, it seems, retain a mystery that other ships have lost over the years because they’re still not a part of our everyday landscape. More alluring still, they access primal fears of being confined in a life-threatening environment. Something goes wrong on a submarine, and you’re living out the watery equivalent of being buried alive.

Donovan and the screenwriters make sure they include all these emotional threats, but with so much going on topside, the drama of the deeps gets sidelined for the uninspired shootouts between the Navy SEALS and the rotten Russkies.

Because this story was inspired by a pulp thriller written by a former US submarine commander, George Wallace of the USS Houston, the little bits and pieces of submariner culture are perfectly conveyed to the landlubbing masses.

We learn about the coin every sailor gets, the constant dangers of the torpedo room, the threat of hull breaches and pressure, and the unique anti-sub devices that await an enemy hunter killer beneath the waves.

Butler is the one who benefits most from these authentic details because they are woven through his character and ensure he assumes hero status. Less fortunate is Gary Oldman, who despite winning a best actor Oscar seems stuck as an avuncular cartoon character. Also eclipsed by the macho inanity are Common as the sympathetic soldier and Linda Cardellini, who brings some much-needed female energy and intelligence to the fore as NSA agent Jayne Norquist. Common and Cardellini are probably the two most likeable and interesting characters in the whole mix, but they barely make the final cut. And when they do, their performances feel chopped up — as witnessed by the fact Jayne Norquist’s hairstyle changes mid-scene, and no one felt compelled to fix the continuity error.

These are quibbles, but when a movie sets out to deliver the real goods by enlisting military support and sponsorship, only to fudge its own dramatic elements, it cheapens the experience. As a result, the whole enterprise slips. This movie wanted to be top-notch thriller, but with Butler feels all B-movie — as though he watched Harrison Ford movies and tried to wear the same hound dog scowl. He lacks the same complexity and empathy, and comes up generic. The same goes for the other boys rocking on this ocean of testosterone. They’re all gung-ho patriots who speak in soldierly cliche while waving the flag.

This movie wanted to be top-notch thriller, but with Butler feels all B-movie — as though he watched Harrison Ford movies and tried to wear the same hound dog scowl.

Because it’s been a while since we’ve seen all the old Cold War tropes — from evil Russian generals to nuclear subs — Hunter Killer fills a hole in the American culture machine by creating a foreign threat everyone can agree on. It’s old-fashioned, militaristic propaganda designed to stimulate testosterone production and a protective, patriotic urge. Hunter Killer still isn’t a great movie, but it puts the world order back in place for the better part of two hours as it re-establishes the Russian threat to the American Way.

@katherinemonk

THE EX-PRESS, October 26, 2018

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