Hayden
Christiansen stars as a stockbroker who takes his son out hunting to kill his
first deer. While in the woods, they
stumble upon a couple of bank robbers making a botched money exchange. During the struggle, Christiansen kills one of
the thieves in self-defense and the other one takes Christiansen’s kid hostage.
Naturally, the man he killed turns out
to be a dirty cop, which gets him in all kinds of hot water with small town
sheriff Bruce Willis. Eventually, the
two form an uneasy alliance to recover the money and save Christiansen’s
kid.
First
Kill is yet another collaboration between Willis and DTV action vet Steven C. (Arsenal)
Miller. As far as their team-ups go, it’s
not as nearly bad as the dull Marauders, nor is it quite as fun as the
surprisingly entertaining Extraction. Although Willis sits out most of the first act,
he gets a fair amount of screen time throughout the rest of the picture. He’s often accused of sleepwalking through his
DTV films, but in this one he delivers a decent performance. Sure, it’s far from his best work, but he
doesn’t exactly phone it in either. Even
though Willis looks like he’s putting forth a commendable effort, his character
is just too thin to really strike a memorable chord.
Christiansen
likewise fares okay in the lead. He’ll probably always be in the shadow
of Anakin Skywalker, but he shows evidence of having a decent enough DTV career
path. In fact, the early scenes where he
and his son are hunting hold a bit of promise as the set-up is certainly strong
enough. It’s just that the ensuing
hostage drama is rather boring, and Christiansen’s character’s stupid decision-making
process hampers any and all of the potential suspense. The big twist is predictable too, and Miller
allows the finale to play out without much pizzazz.
The
last word on First Kill: It’s certainly
not the worst DTV time-waster Bruce has appeared in, but it’s inessential all
the same.