Film Review: Shoot to Kill (1988)

(source: tmdb.org)

In good old times there used to be actors able to give a touch of class even to something like generic 1980s Hollywood action films. Sir Sidney Poitier, “Oscar”-awarded Bahamian actor famous for removing racial barriers in American cinema, did just that by starring in Shoot to Kill, 1988 film directed by Roger Spottiswoode. He plays Warren Stantin, FBI agent tasked with the case of kidnapping and extortion in San Francisco. Although Stantin does everything right, the operation goes wrong and unknown kidnapper escapes with valuable diamonds after murdering two hostages in cold blood. Stantin is determined to bring him to justice and continues pursuit, with the trail leading to the forests of US Pacific Northwest. The killer has apparently taken false identity and infiltrated group of hikers on a fishing party, led by local mountain guide Sarah Rennel (played by Kirstie Alley). His obvious plan is to use Sarah’s knowledge of terrain to cross into Canada. When Jonathan Knox (played by Tom Berenger), Sarah’s boyfriend and fellow mountain guide, learns about that he immediately starts to track her down. Much to his displeasure, he is joined by Stantin, who apparently doesn’t have a clue about survival in the wild. Two men, however, gradually learn to respect each other as they approach their target and prepare for inevitable showdown.

When Shoot to Kill appeared in cinemas, it was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm by critics and even had decent box office results. However, from today’s perspective it looks that a lot of enthusiasm was created by huge respect for Poitier, who had returned to the big screen after more than a decade of pause. Poitier indeed does a good job in the film, confidently playing resourceful FBI agent who doesn’t shy away from physical action; this is even more impressive considering that Poitier was sixty at the time. The rest of cast is also good, although overshadowed by Poitier and burdened with underwritten one-dimensional characters; script written by Harv Zimmel, Michael Burton and Daniel Petrie Jr. doesn’t give much background to them. Director Roger Spottiswoode is, on the other hand, more concentrated on action, obviously intrigued by the story that can serve as genre mix of action, thriller, survival film, chase film and buddy film with little touch of western. He keeps the quick pace and directs action scenes well; suspense is well maintained in the first half of the film, where the identity of the killer is never revealed to the audience. Spottiswoode maintains that suspense by casting members of Sarah’s party with character actors specialised in the role of villains (Clancy Brown, Frederick Coffin, Richard Masur, Andrew Robinson) thus leaving audience to wander who of them might play the actual antagonist. Once the mystery is resolved, Shoot to Kill begins to fall apart. The villain, who was by that time shown as intelligent and resourceful person, begins to act in stupid manner only to provide audience with “neat” and predictably happy ending. Shoot to Kill could have benefited from attractive locations in and around Vancouver (with the second half actually taking place in the city, which was rarity for Hollywood films made there). Unfortunately, Spottiswoode directed film in a way to allow smooth pan & scan transition for 4:3 image on television sets. This, and the annoying music soundtrack by John Scott, makes Shoot to Kill look like cheap television production. Sidney Poitier indeed helped this film with his presence, but not enough to make it truly remarkable.

RATING: 4/10 (+)