24 Hours to Live (2017)

Directed by: Brian Smrz | 93 minutes | action, science fiction | Actors: Ethan Hawke, Paul Anderson, Rutger Hauer, Tanya van Graan, Liam Cunningham, Nathalie Boltt, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Jenna Upton, Qing Xu, Aidan Whytock, Tyrone Keogh, Jeremy Yong, Shane John Kruger, Alex Anlos, Andrew Morgado Brendan Murray, Bjorn Steinbach, Susan Ling Young, Richard Lothian, Jason Maydew, Gary Glushon, Owen de Wet, Dean Johnson, Jeremeo Le Cordeur, Tuks Tad Lungu

Ethan Hawke as an action hero? In ’24 Hours to Live’ he makes a frantic attempt to join his character Travis Conrad as Ethan Hunt (‘Mission: Impossible’, Tom Cruise), John Wick (Keanu Reeves) and Snake Plissken (‘Escape from New York’). , Kurt Russell) to be included. Hawke plays an ex-hitman who is persuaded one last time for a job.

Unfortunately for him, he himself is killed by a Chinese Interpol spy, Lin Blisset (Qing Xu from ‘Looper’). Because he has important information, a secret agency operating under the name Red Mountain brings him back to life. However, only for 24 hours. The clock, fitted under the skin in his left arm, is ticking. In that limited time, can he discover the identity of the murderer of his wife and child? And what about the loyalty of his former warbuddie Jim Morrow (Paul Anderson from “Peaky Blinders”)? In passing, Travis and Lin’s paths cross.

Director Brian Smrz has a history as a stuntman and stunt coordinator on films such as ‘Blade’, ‘Mission: Impossible II’, ‘Face/Off’ and ‘Live Free or Die Hard’. You can see that, because there is no shortage of action scenes and stunts in ’24 Hours to Live’. The slow-motion scene in an African ghetto is especially magnificent. But what about the story? Well, you have to take a few things for granted, but that almost makes sense within the action genre.

Hawke convinces in his role of revenge-hungry ex-hit man. In the supporting roles we see ‘our’ Rutger Hauer (as Frank, Travis’s father-in-law) and Liam Cunningham (Sir Davos from “Game of Thrones” as bad guy Wetzler). Unfortunately, they don’t get enough playing time to really excel. The biggest supporting role is for Anderson and he does his job well. Unfortunately, Qing Xu stands out sharply. Her English seems to have been spoken by someone else and you get the strong feeling that she was only cast as ‘excuse exotic’.

As Wetzler says in the film, “A man without a family has nothing to lose.” Indeed, because if you only have 24 hours to live, who cares? For fans of unbridled action (chases, stunts, lots of machine-gun fire), a straightforward story and an obligatory ‘showdown’ at the end of a heady ride.