Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
When a woman's father goes missing, she enlists a local to aid in her search. The pair soon discover that her father has died at the hands of a wealthy sportsman who hunts homeless men as a form of recreation.
Hard Target is John Woo's Hollywood debut, and his kinetic visual style — slow-motion gunplay, balletic violence, dove imagery — elevates the cinematography well above average for the genre. The plot is a serviceable 'Most Dangerous Game' riff set in New Orleans with solid exploitation energy, though it's fairly thin. Van Damme and Lance Henriksen are watchable but the acting is broadly functional at best, with Henriksen chewing scenery enjoyably. The film's novelty comes largely from Woo's unmistakable directorial fingerprints rather than story originality. The climax and ending are overstuffed and somewhat anticlimactic despite the spectacle, falling short of Woo's Hong Kong finales.