Hired to Kill (1990)

Sadly Over-hyped

I'll tell you why so serious

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Hired to Kill (1990)** (out of 4) A government man (George Kennedy) hires mercenary Frank Ryan (Brian Thompson) to sneak into a South American location and take out a ruthless leader (Oliver Reed) who is holding an important man (Jose Ferrer) hostage. Frank goes undercover as a gay photographer and his "models" are actually trained agents.HIRED TO KILL comes from director Nico Mastorakis who is best remembered for his notorious film ISLAND OF DEATH. This action picture certainly isn't in the same league but if you enjoy these low-rent action movies then you should get some kicks out of this one. Obviously there's nothing ground-breaking here but there are enough campy moments to keep you entertained. Plus, viewing this film twenty-five plus years after it was made, you can't help but smile thinking back on these types of movies that were made with such famous cast members.The entire plot to this thing is pretty stupid but in many ways you have to think parts of the screenplay are a spoof on the genre. A gay photographer? The film manages to be at its most fun during the finale when various explosion and gun fights are happening. The stunts are all well done and the explosions are great, although sadly a stuntman did lose his life. The biggest problem with the film is that there's just not too much that happens for the first hour. There are way too many dialogue scenes and not enough action.With that said, the cast is great or at least greatly entertaining. Thompson certainly wasn't a great actor but I thought he fit this role just perfectly. Reed, I'm sure drunk, is fun to watch as is both Kennedy and Ferrer in their small roles. The woman all look good and play up the sexuality, which is never a bad thing.

No one can say Frank Ryan (Thompson) isn't awesome. As a badass mercenary, he plays by his own rules. But when Thomas (Kennedy) approaches the hulking brute with a new assignment, at first he's wary. He must travel to the small country of Cypra and rescue a political prisoner named Rallis (Ferrer). But in order to do this, he must pretend to be a gay fashion designer and have a retinue of seven fashion models. Did you think there would be another way to get that job done? This initially chaps Ryan's hide, as he's an ultra-macho warrior who "doesn't like working with women". But these aren't ordinary women, they're all specially trained in the fighting arts. The only real obstacle standing in their way is the president of Cypra, one Michael Bartos (Reed) and his goons. Will Ryan and his lethal ladies be able to extract the prisoner and complete their mission? Find out today…It was nice to see fan-favorite Brian Thompson as the main hero for once. He usually plays the baddie, and he deserves a starring role like this. He gets a great intro to his character, doing something to a ringing phone that we've all fantasized about doing at one time or another. But that's about it for character development for Frank Ryan, all we need to know is that he's a grizzled, tanktop-wearing, musclebound belligerent jackass/hero. But how could Thompson be a villain this time around, when the great Oliver Reed fills the role with aplomb? Sure, Reed's absurd, bushy mustache makes him look like a cross between David Crosby and a walrus, but it's all part of the fun. Hired to Kill isn't that dissimilar from another "Oliver Reed hitting the skids" movie, Rage to Kill (1988). Maybe he demanded only to be in "…to Kill" movies to cap off his career.Jose Ferrer doesn't do that much, and George Kennedy wears some cool glasses. You've got to hand it to director Mastorakis. He can usually corral together a bunch of B-stars like this and create a product perfect for the VHS market of the day. Kennedy also worked with Mastorakis on Nightmare at Noon (1988), as you may remember. Essentially, Hired to Kill is a non-South America-set El Presidente movie, and of course Ryan has to assemble a team, and naturally there's a training sequence. But those time-honored classic items are filled with babes. The scenario is reminiscent of Hell Squad (1986), but just call it the "fem-spendables".So while there are plenty of talky bits in the middle, it all comes to a nice, Red Scorpion (1988)-like climax (Thompson even resembles Dolph at times), and there is some classic un-PC dialogue. Plus he sits down while shirtlessly shooting a machine gun and wearing sunglasses. Usually it's some maniac standing and screaming while doing that. Thompson adds some casual cool to his murderous rage. Featuring the song "Do It For the Money" by Thomas Marolda, which is very similar to Deion Sanders' "Must Be the Money" of a few years later (could it be that "Neon Deion" is a fan of this movie?) Hired to Kill does get a little dull at times, but the stars, especially Thompson, and the eye candy, keep it afloat.

Given his muscular frame and intense look, the always excellent Brian Thompson is usually found typecast in movies as the bad guy (Cobra and Mortal Kombat:Annihilation to name but two instances) so it came as a very pleasant and refreshing change to see him given the chance to play the hero role in this film.In it he plays Frank Ryan, a highly trained mercenary who is hired by a shady organisation (headed by George Kennedy) to rescue an imprisoned rebel leader from a (fictitious) country called Cypra, somewhere in the middle east.Sounds straight forward? Well that's what Ryan thinks at first to, fully expecting to go in with his guns a blazing to get the job done. However, the mission stipulates a more subtle approach and some undercover work involving of all things, a modelling agency! Much to his chagrin, Ryan is given the new identity of a gay fashion designer, whilst his beautiful female 'models' are in fact, recruited mostly from maximum security jails for their special (and very deadly) skills which Ryan hones to even deadlier perfection through a rigorous and brutal training regime.With his new soldiers now ready for action, Ryan takes them to Cypra, where they are greeted by the host, the head of the government's security services and acting leader (Oliver Reed sporting his mighty moustache!) for an exclusive fashion shoot.Of course, much action ensues with our hero's eventually locating their intended target to free him....but is this the real mission objective? Throw in a bit of double crossing, and at least not all of our band of liberators making it back home safely....So on to the quality of the film itself now; Well the good news is that Thompson certainly makes the most of his role as the chauvinistic, tough as nails hard man with a secret soft heart. The ladies to look lovely whilst simultaneously handling the action scenes well and it's always fun to watch the late, great Oliver Reed in action.The bad news is that very sadly, there just isn't nearly enough of the aforementioned action to enthral most action fans.Still, what there is, is admittedly handled with some not inconsiderable flair by directors Nico Mastorakis and Peter Rader including some nice BIG explosions during the climax and some great helicopter stunt work. I also really enjoyed the very end of this, wherein one of the films protagonists gets their just desserts in a very fitting way.Overall then, certainly not a bad film by any means, but it's also certainly not the all out action trailer that Brian Thompson deserves to headline. Come on Hollywood, give this actor some more roles!As a final note: Watch out for the hilarious scene where Oliver Reed's character grabs Thompson by the gonads to check if he's genuinely homosexual. Thompson, looking somewhat shocked, has to quickly act his part by kissing him!

This is a movie with cult potential.Brian Thompson(in a rare leading role.)is the misogynistic soldier of fortune called on to lead an army of seven beautiful fashion models/ mercenaries to rescue an imprisoned leader from a despotic regime.Good supporting cast in the shape of the late Oliver Reed and Jose Ferrar.It also features a gay kiss scene(of sorts) between Reed and Thompson!The dialogue is cliched, but the action is good.The girls look as if they escaped from a Robert Palmer video.Good voyeuristic fun!