The American action-thriller film Hot Seat, directed and produced by James Cullen Bressack, hit the theaters on July 1. It stars Kevin Dillon and Mel Gibson, with Michael Welch, Sam Asghari, Eddie Steeples, Lydia Hull, Shannen Doherty, Anna Harr, and Kate Katzman in supporting roles. It follows a former hacker and IT expert who finds a hair-trigger bomb strapped to his desk chair and is blackmailed by an unknown hacker. He is then framed to be the bomber and must use his skills to figure out who rigged the bomb and why before it’s too late. Voices from the Balcony published a review of the film and commended Bressack’s skills saying, “Hot Seat is predictable and talky but Bressack has done enough of these kinds of films to know what needs to be done. And the last half-hour does work up some tension as all the plot threads come together with a couple of twists.” If you enjoyed the action-packed film Hot Seat, here are five movies we recommend watching that will keep you on the edge of your seat as the protagonists find their way to save the day and accomplish their missions.
Speed
Speed is a 1994 American action thriller film directed by Jan de Bont. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, and Jeff Daniels. Its premise involves a bomber just like Hot Seat and centers on a SWAT officer on a bus that is rigged by a terrorist to explode if its speed falls below 50 miles per hour. The film was released on June 10, 1994, in the United States by 20th Century Fox. Speed was a box office success, grossing $350 million worldwide, and won two Academy Awards, for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing at the 67th Academy Awards. Critics praised the film’s suspense and action sequences but criticized its plot and characters. A sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, was released in 1997. Reelviews gave a very positive review of the film and wrote, “Good action movies are rare. Great action movies come along once every few years. Speed deserves a place in the latter category, being the most breath-stoppingly thrilling motion picture to open since the original Die Hard. This is a film that cries out for audience participation, whether it be the silent majority’s digging of fingers into armrests or the vocal minority’s cheers and catcalls.”
Boss Level
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The 2020 American science fiction action film Boss Level, directed by Joe Carnahan and written by Carnahan and Chris and Eddie Borey, from a story by the Boreys, shares the same producers as Hot Seat. It stars Frank Grillo as a retired special forces soldier who tries to escape a never-ending time loop that results in his death. In order to break out of the loop, he must find the people responsible for it. Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, and Michelle Yeoh co-star. The film was released in the United States on March 5, 2021, by RLJE Films. Boss Level received mixed reviews from critics. However, many praised Grillo’s performance and the film’s action sequences. If you are a fan of action movies, then you will definitely enjoy Boss Level. In a review published by Variety, the film was compared to the classic time loop film Groundhog Day and was praised for its new take saying, “The movie, directed by the stylish genre trickster Joe Carnahan (“The A-Team”), is “Groundhog Day” redone as an action revenge movie, and by the time you’re a quarter of the way into it you’re thinking, ‘Why hasn’t anyone done this before’?”
Money Monster
Money Monster is a 2016 American crime thriller film directed by Jodie Foster and with a screenplay Jamie Linden, Alan Di Fiore, and Jim Kouf from a story by Di Fiore and Kauf. The film stars George Clooney (who also co-produced), Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell, Dominic West, Caitríona Balfe, and Giancarlo Esposito. It follows financial television host Lee Gates and his producer Patty Fenn, who are put in an extreme situation when an irate investor takes them and their crew hostage. The event is broadcast live throughout the running of Gates’s show Money Monster, during which he had just recommended the IBIS Clear Capital investment fund to his viewers moments before its stock begins to crash. Gates with the help of his producer must figure out a way to survive the situation. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a box office bomb grossing just $93 million against its $27 million budget. The Guardian published a review of the film and praised Clooney’s performance in particular saying, “Clooney carries off the absurdity of his position with some deadpan flair and a tiny twinkle of camp. He is to this film what Leslie Nielsen was the Zucker/Abrahams comedies, and Roberts functions well as his exasperated straight-woman.”
Extraction
Extraction is a 2020 American action thriller film directed by Sam Hargrave (in his feature directorial debut) and written by Joe Russo, based on the graphic novel Ciudad by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Fernando León González, and Eric Skillman. The film stars Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda (his international film debut), Golshifteh Farahani, Pankaj Tripathi and David Harbour. The film is about an Australian black-ops mercenary whose mission to save an Indian drug lord’s kidnapped son in Dhaka, Bangladesh goes awry when he is double-crossed. Empire commended Hemsworth’s performance in the film and wrote, “Powered by the charisma and physicality of its star, this often gruelling action flick does more than enough to suggest that Hemsworth has found his genre, once he hangs up a certain hammer.”
The Commuter
Just like Hot Seat, the 2018 American action thriller film The Commuter centers on a protagonist put under pressure to accomplish a task. It is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by Byron Willinger, Philip de Blasi, and Ryan Engle, and stars Liam Neeson, Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, and Sam Neill. The plot follows an insurance salesman who is caught up in a criminal conspiracy during his daily commute home. The film was released in the United States on January 12, 2018, by Lionsgate. Critical reception was mixed; some praised the direction, acting, and twists while others criticized the plot holes, implausibility, and lack of originality. Despite this, the film was commercially successful, grossing $152 million worldwide. The Guardian gave particular praise to the film’s camera work and wrote, “Despite the confined location, there’s rarely a dull moment visually, either. Collet-Serra is constantly finding new places to put the camera, to the extent that by the end we’re familiar with every part of the train, from the vent in the toilet to the carriage couplings beneath the floor. The camera even flies through the punched hole of a train ticket in one gratifying shot.”
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