Big Game (2015)

“Find the president. Bring him home.”

A film aimed at young teenage boys pumped full of sugar.

A young Finnish teenager, on a hunting mission, finds the president of the United States after his plane was shot down by terrorists. 

I went into ‘Big Game’ totally blind as I hadn’t seen a trailer or even a poster. It's interesting to do this now and again because you never really know what you might stumble across. I've found some of my favourite films of last year by doing this but you do have to take the gamble that the film you're about to see could be terrible.

'Big Game' was somewhere in between... Maybe leaning slightly more towards the latter.

'Big Game’ stars a young unknown actor Omni Tommila, who I’ve only ever seen in ‘Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale’ and Samuel L. Jackson, who seems to be doing every single role that is offered to him recently.

Straight from the get go, I was intrigued by this film. As part of tradition, young Oskari has to set off on a hunting mission in the forest to prove his maturity to his kinsfolk. He’s not a natural hunter and is overshadowed by his father. This is an interesting and relatively relatable character who is struggling with who he is and who he is expected to be. 

However, my intrigue was quickly shattered and replaced by scepticism and a critical eye. Samuel L. Jackson is the president (let that sink in) and, after his plane is destroyed by some very pantomime terrorists, he is found by Oskari and must survive. 

‘Big Game' is extremely cheesy…

There are cringe worthy one liners, over the top action sequences and bucketloads of clichés. 

I don’t mind cheesy dialogue or some bad clichés when they are in the right context.

My main problem with the film was that it didn’t know what it was and therefore tried to cover all bases with the audience. 

It had too much adult content to be kids film but was way too childish to be a film for adults. 

It had cheesy and hammy acting with some over the top action, which can be a lot of fun in a kids film, but at the same time it had some really adult violence and plot points that really confuse the tone of the film. It is rated as a 12A and there were some younger children in the cinema that really shouldn’t have been watching some parts of the film. If it had picked one side or the other then it would have worked so much better, unfortunately it ends up just being confusing and just... cheesy. 

The humour in the film was unexpected and I found myself laughing quite a lot at the jokes but this was unfortunately balanced by my laughter at the film that was rapidly free-falling into farce. The “terrorists" in the film are so two dimensional and pantomime it’s laughable and some of the dialogue is so clunky that I wondered if it was actually written by the 12 year olds that the film is aimed at. No amount of Sam Jackson will solve that. 

What I did enjoy was the fact that Samuel L. Jackson still managed to get a “motherfucker” in there, I was waiting for it all movie and was thrilled when he got to say it. A small consolation in what is a pretty bad movie overall.

I thought Omni Tommila was the glue that held the film together and he actually outshone most of the more mature american actors. His character was defined and he had a clear arch and goal to accomplish. His chemistry with Samuel L. Jackson was also really believable, which is something that is hard to fake. His transformation from innocence was enjoyable to watch, despite the rest of the questionable film going on around him. 

What has to be said about 'Big Game' is that the locations they used in Finland are beautiful. Reminiscent of 'The Lord of the Rings' or 'Braveheart', the scenery and location becomes a character in itself and each scene captures another gorgeous part of the land that young Oskari is trying to survive in. The cinematography helps a lot too, it has energy and excitement which pulls you into the action and allows you to take in the spectacle of the landscapes.

'Big Game' does a tremendous job of promoting Finland and it's people, it portrays them as being strong and full of values. I find it strange that it has made its way all the way across here with the way the Americans are portrayed in it but I think there's enough Samuel L. Jacksonness in there to make them forget that it's not very flattering... 

For me, it felt like a 90's action blockbuster but without the nostalgic feeling to go with it. It wasn't quite a homage or a tribute to these movies as it did seem to want to take itself seriously but at the same time it obviously had some fun with what it was doing? This brings us back to the confusion of the film. I have a feeling it was meant to be a little more serious than it was but comes across as over-acted and cheesy so they just ran with it.

Granted, some of the action set pieces were enjoyable but it was mostly the humour of the film that saved it. 

Honestly, I think it was an attempt at doing a Matthew Vaughn film like 'Kick-Ass' and "Kinsmen: The Secret Service'. Vaughn manages to balance pantomime and comedy with some serious action and violence, however the difference is that Vaughn does it better and he knows the audience well. 

All of this being said, if you are to look at it from a young teenagers perspective then I think it definitely works a bit better. They wouldn't be as familiar with the clichés, the action is big enough to satisfy the spectacle quota of an action film and cheesy scenes don't seem as bad when you're a young kid. I was half expecting some hormonal titillation and more swearing but it was relatively reserved on that front. It'll fulfil the action quota and has a character that they can relate to as the young teenager is the hero of the film alongside some incapable adults. 

Overall, I think that young boys from ages 12 - 14 will absolutely love and enjoy this film but it will probably be lost on most of the audience. It's enjoyable from a silly and cheesy action flick point of view but the sobering fact is that if you actually look at it for what it is then it really falls short of the mark. 
There were some big names in this film but I imagine these names were purely to draw a western audience. The story is full of the biggest clichés in action films you can imagine with some “plot twists” that can be spotted a mile off.