Christopher Lambert is typically amusing as Paul Racine, an American executive in the computer-chip business in Nagoya, Japan on business. He has a romantic night with a stranger named Kirina (the alluring Joan Chen), only to end up witnessing her assassination later that night. Dodging a few subsequent attempts on his life thanks to dumb luck and good timing, he hooks up with a samurai (Yoshio Harada) and his wife (Yoko Shimada), who vow to protect him. They must all do battle with Kinjo (John Lone), the lethal leader of a ninja cult, and his minions.
Marking the second directorial effort for screenwriter J.F. Lawton ("Pretty Woman", "Under Siege"), "The Hunted" is often silly and laughable, but it becomes clear that it's not meant to be taken all that seriously all the time. It leaves most of the heroic duties to Harada, with Lambert mostly just along for the ride until the finish. He does eventually desire to receive some sort of training, but commendably does NOT become a master swordsman by the story's end.
"The Hunted" will never join the ranks of classic martial arts action movies, but it's actually a decent enough viewing provided one is not too demanding. It's got TONS of bloodshed and a high body count; many innocents as well as active participants in the feud get cut up. It's a rather long movie at an hour and 50 minutes, but is never truly boring, at the very least.
Lambert will not likely ever be mistaken for a master thespian, but as previously mentioned, he's usually good for some amused chuckles. It's up to people like Lone, Harada, and Shimada to do the true heavy lifting. Chen tries to make the most out of her brief, ill-fated role.
An irresistible, percussion-based music score (composed by Leonard Eto and Motofumi Yamaguchi) helps a lot, as well as some excellent location shooting in Japan.
Six out of 10.
Marking the second directorial effort for screenwriter J.F. Lawton ("Pretty Woman", "Under Siege"), "The Hunted" is often silly and laughable, but it becomes clear that it's not meant to be taken all that seriously all the time. It leaves most of the heroic duties to Harada, with Lambert mostly just along for the ride until the finish. He does eventually desire to receive some sort of training, but commendably does NOT become a master swordsman by the story's end.
"The Hunted" will never join the ranks of classic martial arts action movies, but it's actually a decent enough viewing provided one is not too demanding. It's got TONS of bloodshed and a high body count; many innocents as well as active participants in the feud get cut up. It's a rather long movie at an hour and 50 minutes, but is never truly boring, at the very least.
Lambert will not likely ever be mistaken for a master thespian, but as previously mentioned, he's usually good for some amused chuckles. It's up to people like Lone, Harada, and Shimada to do the true heavy lifting. Chen tries to make the most out of her brief, ill-fated role.
An irresistible, percussion-based music score (composed by Leonard Eto and Motofumi Yamaguchi) helps a lot, as well as some excellent location shooting in Japan.
Six out of 10.