By Bernie C Byrnes
Killing Gunther marks the directorial debut of actor Taran Killam (Saturday Night Live, 12 Years A Slave & The Heat) and is a very silly film in all the right ways. Killam, who plays the smug lead Blake, turns in an engaging performance, which treads the fine line between James Bond wannabe and a prat. He is definitely his own biggest fan, displaying the brittle conceit of a predictably fragile self-esteem.
You know it isn’t going to go well from the get go – they are trying to assassinate Arnold Schwarzenegger for crying out loud. They’re not bad at what they do, but as Gunther satisfyingly points out when they eventually track him down, they are a bunch of over-entitled whiney brats whereas he has achieved his elite status through years of good old-fashioned hard work and training.
It’s bloody in places but no more than your average shoot-em-ups and maintains a pleasing cartoon quality to the violence throughout. Kudos to the stunt team. Schwarzenegger appears only for the final few minutes of the movie, but unsurprisingly steals the show. His joyful exuberance for killing is delightful.
I enjoyed this film. It was entertaining and surprisingly pretty to watch. It was smarter than I expected, with knowing humour and some well-observed comments on modern masculinity. Mainly though, it was just a lot of fun.
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Killing Gunther
Directed by Taran Killam
Starring Taran Killam, Bobby Moynihan, Hannah Simone, Allison Tolman, Cobie Smulders and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Available to watch on Digital Download from April 2nd, 2018
Watch on iTunes
