Contract Killers (2014) Directed by Mathew John Pearson

You of course should never expect too much from a low-budget action flick from New Zealand, made by a bunch of unknowns. But perhaps that's actually a good thing for this movie. Just go in with your expectations set low for this movie and chances are that you are really going to end up liking it. I certainly was surprised by its overall quality and how much I enjoyed watching it.

It basically is a very slick, fast paced, action movie, that's filled with all kinds of different types of action in it. The one moment you are watching some shootouts and the next the movie turns into more of a martial arts kind of action movie. It's actually a combination that works out very well for this particular movie. It besides provides the movie with plenty of variety and I have to say that it's a pretty creative movie to watch, when it comes down to the action.

And it's an obvious very low-budget production but that doesn't mean that the movie is without style and flair. Some people are probably going to complain about the dark atmosphere of the movie and the fact that the camera is constantly tilting and swirling around but you know what; I have seen plenty of low-budget action movies that were without a good and distinctive visual style and let me just tell you that a distinctive and constantly present visual style, no matter how cheap and formulaic it's looking, is always better than having no style at all.

Story-wise, it's a far from great or engaging movie though. The story itself seems to be simplistic and straightforward enough but it all still manages to feel a bit messy at parts. Also, since the story wasn't always keeping my attention, the movie tends to feel a bit overlong at parts, especially toward the end.

Luckily the movie still remains a well enough made one. It actually is a surprisingly well directed movie and it would be very interesting to see what director Mathew John Pearson would be capable of when given a bigger budget to work with. Especially all of the action is shot extremely well and quite exciting to watch, despite of the movie its low budget.

Seriously, this movie may not seem like much but it's a surprisingly well made and entertaining one to watch, especially for those who enjoy violent, overblown, action flicks, involving 'smaller' kind of action, such as hand-to-hand combat and some straightforward, good old fashioned, shootouts.

6/10

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