Good Kill

There are actors who do good performances, and there are actors who can act so good, that your hair rises from your arms. One of these actors, who proved himself in many motion pictures is Ethan Hawke. One fine example of fantastic acting is of course in Training Day, where he is a new police officer, being trained by Denzel Washington. If you have not seen this one, i really think you should buy the blu ray. This is a film you want to keep in your movie collection. Another film that is so damn good, that you need to buy it, is Sidney Lumet´s fantastic thriller Before The Devil Knows You´re Dead. With the cast of Ethan Hawke, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei and Albert Finney, this was one of my favourite films from the year 2007. A very intelligent hijack thriller, and the final film that director Sidney Lumet directed, after his death. One of the things i like about Ethan Hawke, is the fact that he never really repeat himself, and do sequels, or do the same characters. The only time he have chosen to do sequels is after his critically praised 90´s film classic Before Sunrise. 2 more films were released where we follow what happend to the main characters, between life changes and becoming older. If you have not seen any of them, i would recommend you take the time and see them all. These are not films for you, if you don´t like to hear a lot of dialogue. But if you do love strong performances, and intelligent stories . I noticed something while looking at the latest releases with Ethan Hawke, he have made 9 films between 2014 - 2015, and only 4 of them have been released so far. So we have a lot to look forward too. One of these films that he made, released in may this year, is called Good Kill. Now, here comes something interesting that most people might not know. Ethan Hawke and director Andrew Niccol worked together on the film Gattaca, a sci fi film released in 1997. So with Good Kill, it will be the second time they work together. Last time i watched one film from director Andrew Niccol was the film The Host. A sort of sci fi thriller, made for the teen audience. Better than Twilight, but nothing you remember really. With Ethan Hawke back together with the director of Gattaca, is this film another successfull combination, or is this second time around not a good final product?

Major Thomas Egan ( Ethan Hawke ) is one of the men, working with drone attacks against Taliban threats. He is told that every shot matters, even if innocent people might die. The base is set outside in the Nevada desert, so he can still go home to his wife Molly Egan ( January Jones ) and his children. Molly can tell that her husband Thomas is affected by his drone missions, as he tries to handle his emotions, knowing he kills innocent people, especially children. For each mission, he tries to focus on just doing the job, even if he does not see a threat in every position. Major Thomas co worker Airman Vera Suarez ( Zoe Kravitz ) does not agree with the decisions being made in certain missions, when she see that they are not completely sure if they are killing talibans or innocent people.  Colonel Jack Johns ( Bruce Greenwood ) make sure that they follow orders, even if he also doubt that they make the right choices. Thomas is becoming more destructive, having alcohol problems, and forced to work more. Will he be able to control his life, or is he going to destroy his marriage and his career ?

Back in 1997, Gattaca became an box office flop, and it seemed to be forgotten among audiences. But after a while, the film discovered its way back on dvd, and found a new fan base. At the time, it was an original sci fi film, with a plot very different from other releases. Looking back at Gattaca today, i would still say that this film is unique. Good Kill is a completely different film for director Andrew Niccol. This story about an U.S. Air Force Fighter, is not very original, or ground breaking when it comes to military film. On the other hand, this film looks really beautiful, where director Niccol shows his view on the U.S. military. The wide filmed scenes among the military operations, feels very realistic, almost as if you could feel yourself being so close to the drones in the sky. Not that long ago, Clint Eastwoods film American Sniper got a lot of attention, because of the content. Good Kill is also based on true events, taking place in 2010. One big difference between American Sniper and Good Kill, is that they show 2 different sides of living in the military, while having a family. While Bradley Cooper was serving his country in Iraq, Ethan Hawke is controlling drones from the military base in America, and can see his family everyday. Even if he is close to his loved ones, you can tell he have a problem, handling emotions and his personal feelings. How do you feel after killing people with drones, almost everyday, do you just connect your feelings outside and just kill the targets ? This is where Good Kill becomes very interesting, where we try and understand how you deal with handling difficult situations no normal person would be able to do. Director Andrew Niccol have managed to make a small film, that feels very powerful, with such an emotional story. Ethan Hawke proves once again why he is one of the best actors of doing different characters, and with Good Kill he shows why he is so good at doing emotions on screen. This might be shocking to some people, but i feel that Good Kill is a better film than American Sniper. Simply because it is not as patriotic, or predictable, it shows a darker side on the military forces. If you love really good acting, and an intelligent story, i suggest you watch Good Kill. I would say this is the best film from director Andrew Niccol and he seems to work so well will Ethan Hawke. Hopefully we can see them do another film together in the future. If Good Kill does not get nominated in any film festival this year,  i will personally complain to the jurys.  This is a film that deserves attention. 

Rating : DDDD