I don’t know who Christian Pitre is, but I’d love to know where I can apply to be her love slave. Something about a ballsy woman who can kick ass kind of riles me up. That said, “Bounty Killer” is a movie I never expected to kick so much infinite ass, but lo and behold, it’s a post-apocalyptic action movie that never takes itself seriously, but creates a wonderful futuristic world where I’d love to visit. If only for the bad ass bounty killers roaming around hunting CEO yuppies in suits. A world where Donald Trump has to watch his ass? I’m sold.
“Bounty Killer” is an immense and utterly excellent action thriller that doesn’t just embrace silliness. It makes silly look bad ass. Set in the near future, America has completely turned on the richest CEO’s as they’ve decided to flee the country and take all of the world’s economy with them. In an effort to hunt them down and bring them to justice, the world’s thugs, gypsies, and killers have now become a business of bounty killers. They’re skilled and violent hunters who hunt down the CEO’s on the run and bring them back dead or alive. The business of Bounty Killing has become an industry and the world’s best are celebrities with their own brand names, and endorsement deals from weapons companies alike. Among the most famous is Mary Death, a curvaceous and insanely sexy warrior with a knack for hand guns and edged weapons. Though she has the face of an angel, she is extremely deadly and will do whatever she can to get her prey.
One of her rivals is the Drifter (played very well by Matthew Marsden!), a fellow Bounty Killer who is also a major celebrity in the bounty killing world. When an old mentor of Mary’s is now a target for the bounty killers, she decides to find him before the skilled killers do, and figure out if he’s been framed or if he’s one of the bad guys. Henry Saine’s action thriller is a wonderful amalgam of the post-apocalypse, with a grindhouse flavor, and some rather brilliant moments of action and comedy that feel like John Carpenter in his prime. There are also some wonderful walk-ons from respective folks like Abraham Benrubi, Gary Busey, Beverly D’Angelo, Kristanna Loken as a devilishly sexy business mogul, and hip hop star Eve as a mythical gypsy who plans to murder Mary Death for leaving her band of killers to start her own business.
Star Christian Pitre balances sexy and tough with perfection, offering a heroine that needs to be featured in a sequel, and very soon. Mary Death uses her sexuality as a means of empowerment, and spends most of the film knocking around the guys without breaking a sweat. She has fun doing what she does, and is never afraid to show vulnerability, especially when we learn her mysterious origin. There’s also Barak Hardley, who is fantastic as a fan boy of the Drifter’s who follows him on his mission and aims to become his gun caddy.
The action is almost non-stop, with some really gruesome special effects providing gore for action buffs in the mood for some splatter. Director Saine is able to squeeze in a ton really entertaining action set pieces, while telling an interesting and unique story of this new world, Mary Death, and how she fell in love with her mentor she now has to hunt. Saine is able to make what could have been a tired throwback seem fresh and original, twisting scenes to keep audiences in awe. The final shootout in the business room is the piece de resistance, and I was left wanting so much more, in spite of the fact the film clocks in at ninety minutes. “Bounty Killer” is the definite surprise of 2013, and one I intend to watch again.