The
Exterminator himself, Robert Ginty co-wrote, directed, and stars as the title
character. He moseys into a small town
looking for a bounty and winds up butting heads with the sheriff (Bo Hopkins). Naturally, the sheriff runs the town with an iron
fist and is trying to push the Native American population out in order to get a
big oil company to set up camp there. Little
does he know Ginty has an ulterior motive for being there: Getting revenge for his fallen Nam vet Native
American buddy. I don’t think I’m
spoiling anything when I tell you Hopkins was the man responsible for his death.
Is
The Bounty Hunter a good movie? Not
exactly. It did however, give Robert
Ginty a chance to direct and write and star in his own vehicle. I mean no one was beating down his door for
an Exterminator 3, so he might as well hone his chops behind the scenes. (Although this was released in some countries
as Exterminator 3, but never mind.)
There
are no surprises here whatsoever, but it is fun seeing Ginty matching wits with
Hopkins. Since they are two of my
all-time favorite B movie vets, I got a moderate amount of amusement from
it. Ginty commands the screen with his
marble-mouthed charisma and sleepy-eyed screen presence. I know this is Hopkins’ umpteenth turn as a
seemingly simpleminded but sinister sheriff.
However, he finds new ways to keep his familiar-seeming character feel
fresh. (He has a good monologue about
his family losing their home in the Depression, as well as a memorable bit
where he sings “Camp Town Races” while beating up a suspect.)
The
Bounty Hunter is decent enough for the most part. Sure, it runs out of steam towards the end,
but it’s watchable more often than not. Since I’m a fan of both leads, I probably gave
it an extra Half Star than necessary.
Your mileage may vary.
AKA: Exterminator 3.
No comments:
Post a Comment