THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD : Tuesday 18th May 2021.

'THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD' is an MA15+ Rated American survival action thriller film which I saw this week at my local multiplex. It is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Taylor Sheridan and based on the 2014 book of the same name by Michael Koryta. Sheridan's previous two film making credits are 'Vile' in 2011 and 'Wind River' in 2017, although he has also written the Screenplays for various others including 'Sicario' in 2015 and its 2018 sequel 'Sicario : Day of the Soldado', 'Hell or High Water' and 'Wind River', plus numerous episodes of TV series 'Yellowstone'. The film was released in South Korea earlier this month, went on general release in Australia and the US from last week, has so far grossed US$7.5M and has generated mixed critical Reviews.

Here then, Hannah Faber (Angelina Jolie) is a smokejumper (a specially trained wildland firefighter who provides an initial attack response on remote wildland fires - they are inserted at the location of the fire by parachute) who is struggling to come to terms with the deaths of three young boys and another smokejumper last year during a forest fire which she was supposedly in charge of, and mis-read the direction the wind was blowing in, so engulfing the four fatalities in flame. She has subsequently been posted to a fire observation tower above the tree line in Park County, Montana. 

In the meantime Owen Casserly (Jake Weber) a widowed forensic accountant is preparing breakfast for his son Connor (Finn Little) when he learns over breaking early morning news that his boss and his family were blown sky high in an apparent gas explosion at their home. The reality is, that they were killed by father and son assassins Jack and Patrick Blackwell (Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult respectively). Owen is of the belief that the assassins will target him next, as the evidence revealed during the course of his forensic accounting investigations tell a story of wide spread corruption through government departments, politicians and other influential parties. And so Owen makes a snap decision to go on the run with Connor, ultimately wanting to seek refuge with his brother-in-law Ethan Sawyer (Jon Bernthal) a Deputy Sheriff in Park County, and Hannah's former boyfriend. 

En-route to Park County, and after the Blackwell's have ransacked the Casserly home to find no one there and evidence that they left in a hurry, the Blackwell's ambush Owen and Connor forcing them off the road and down a steep ravine. As Owen sits in the drivers seat dying, he gives Connor hand written evidence implicating the Blackwell's employer, mob boss Arthur Phillip (Tyler Perry). He tells Connor to get out of the car and go hide under a fallen tree and to remain silent no matter what he witnesses. At that, from the road, the Blackwell's fire a barrage of bullets into the back of the car, shredding Owen who puts his foot on the accelerator sending the vehicle crashing down the ravine even further before coming to rest in a crumpled heap on its side at the bottom.    

Ethan comes across the car wreck on his way home later that afternoon, and meanwhile Hannah encounters Connor wandering through the forest while she is out on patrol. Connor is initially untrusting of Hannah and tries to evade her, but when confronted with a twelve mile hike to the nearest town relents and reluctantly agrees to accompany her back to the tower to contact the Police and the news media for help. Jack Blackwell receives a call from Arthur Phillip who wants to meet. Phillip instructs Blackwell to hunt down Connor and kill him.

And so in order to cause a distraction for a few hours while the Blackwell's go about their business, they start a forest fire using flares that quickly ignites the dry undergrowth and before you know it is a full blown forest fire raging out of control. They then drive to Ethan's house disguised as Police Officers believing that Connor would have made it there, to be greeted by Ethan's six months pregnant wife Allison (Medina Senghore). They force their way in and beat Allison into submission until she agrees to call Ethan and ask him the whereabouts of Connor. Ultimately, another scuffle breaks out in which Allison gains the upper hand with the use of a gas cylinder which she ignites and points it flamethrower like at Jack burning him badly to the side of his face, and fires off a few shotgun rounds at Patrick in the process catching them both off guard. Allison escapes the house.

That night an electrical storm strikes and a direct lightning bolt hits the tower frying the radio, the satellite phone and all the electrics in the place. Hannah then leads Connor into town on foot but are forced to retreat back to the tower when the fire blocks their safe passage through the woodland. Hannah is struck by lightning when crossing an open field, but survives badly shaken but not stirred save for a not insignificant burn to her shoulder. Ethan hurries home with the Sheriff having been previously alerted in the phone call from Allison that something was not quite right at home. The Blackwell's emerge and shoot the Sheriff dead and then force Ethan to guide them through the forest as their tracker to hunt down Connor. 

The Blackwell's and Ethan eventually come across the tower which appears empty, except from smoke rising out of a wood burning chimney. Ethan is forced to search it while the Blackwell's watch from a tree, saying that if Connor is in there to bring him down to them, and if not, to set the lookout alight. Having returned to the tower earlier, Hannah and Connor both hide while Ethan attempts to make it appear empty in the dark. Patrick notices Ethan talking and they start shooting into the tower, injuring Ethan. Hannah and Connor manage to escape. The Blackwells try to follow them but are stopped when Allison, having tracked down Ethan by way of a GPS, starts shooting at them. Patrick and Jack split up, with Patrick going after Hannah and Connor, and Jack staying to try and kill Allison; however, she shoots him twice disabling him and then plugs him with a third round at close range killing him.

Connor is told to run ahead by Hannah who has suffered a bullet wound to the leg, while she attempts to distract Patrick but he gains the upper hand over Hannah and is savagely landing punches to her face and head. Connor returns pleading for him to stop beating Hannah. Patrick rises to his feet, and approaches Connor telling him to turn around while he draws a knife in readiness to slit the young lads throat. Hannah meanwhile rises to her feet behind Patrick and lunges at him twice and a third time with a pick axe severely injuring him to the point where he asks her to finish him off. But she declines saying that he can suffer and then leaves him to burn to death in the approaching fire which quickly and very painfully engulfs him. 

Allison reunites with Ethan in the tower but they are trapped by the fire; they put on oxygen masks and hold each other as it surrounds them. Hannah and Connor jump into a stream and watch from under the water as the fire engulfs the forest all around and above them. The next morning as day breaks Hannah and Connor are sat by the waters edge of the stream which saved them both. They walk back to the tower, just as three men from Hannah's smoke-jumping team are parachuted in to save them, and Allison in the tower. Ethan died overnight from injuries sustained from his bullet wounds. Later that morning after medical assistance had been rendered, Connor prepares to give his father's evidence to the awaiting media channels and Hannah promises to help him navigate through his uncertain future. 

The production values in 'Those Who Wish Me Dead' are pretty good it must be said, particularly the staged forest fire sequences which look authentic enough and add to the realism of the film. There is also a fine cast of A-list movie talent here that is underpinned by two up and coming stars in young Aussie Finn Little and Medina Senghore that help elevate the film somewhat, and add a few moments of tension and emotion in an otherwise fairly predictable storyline that never rises above the sum of its parts. Had this film been released sometime during the late '80's or the '90's it probably would have been a smash hit and as it is this film is a formulaic throwback to those natural disaster flicks that filled the shelves in our local video and dvd rental stores during that bygone era. The Director and Writer Taylor Sheridan has proven his abilities with action spectacle and how to get the most out of his cast in an entertaining enough feature that is often overly violent, and will leave many questions unanswered by the time the end credits roll. At a brisk running time of one hundred minutes it is fast paced and will not leave you wanting, even though within 24 hours you will have forgotten about this movie and wondering what to see next. 

'Those Who Wish Me Dead' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-