What happens when the predator become the prey with no cover, no back-up, and no way out in this claustrophobic action thriller?
You could argue there's almost no one better to helm an action film with awesome fight scenes than someone who has been working in stunts for years. Director Nick Mckinless (Fast X, Gangs of London) has some amazing credentials and the action sequences in Take Cover are clearly choreographed by someone who knows and loves the genre.
With a sweet spot lower run-time of just 89 minutes, there's not an awful lot of filler or back story for the main characters, Sam, played by the always on point Scott Adkins (One More Shot) and his ‘Jack-the-lad' co-star Ken played by Jack Parr (Peaky Blinders). But in this case, it really isn't needed.
It's a fairly simple story – after a hit goes wrong, a sniper for hire, Sam, decides the job no longer has any meaning and wants to leave after one last posting. But whilst on his final job, Sam finds the tables have turned and the hit man has become the target. Now instead of being the shooter, he and his spotter Ken have to use their knowledge and experience to evade the bullets aiming for them in their hotel room. They have the added complication of two civilian women to try and keep alive who are in the suite with them all whilst trying to work out who is attempting to kill them and how to get help.
Contained locations make for excellent set pieces in action flicks that don't have Hollywood budgets and there isn't much left of the high-end penthouse suite by the end of Take Cover for sure. Mckinless obviously didn't have the money or the amount of explosives of an Expendables film but that doesn't mean there aren't some ‘fist in the air, hell yeah' moments. Look out for one particularly spectacular scene between Adkins and an aggressor in an elevator. Brilliant stuff.
Adkins treats fans to a range of skills from hand-to-hand combat, to firearms to explosives and because this is an action film, it doesn't matter if one man manages to take out around six others in full body armour because we want him to win and show us a good time doing so.
Adkins and Parr previously starred together in James Nunn's One Shot and have great on-screen chemistry and Adkin's scenes with Madalina Bellariu (The Young Pope) were just enough to bring some emotion to the table without being cringy. He excels at playing a flawed ‘good guy' although this time around it's Parr who gets the majority of the one-liners, leaning into his ‘laddish' personality with relish.
Alice Eve (Bombshell) who plays their boss, Tam, wasn't on screen enough but when she was, along with her delightfully posh British accent, she shone and was a great addition to the cast.
Overall if you go into Take Cover expecting a DTV film filled with fists and bullets flying all over the place then you'll be in for a good time.
Take Cover is available on Digital Platforms and DVD 14 October. Distributed by Signature Entertainment.