Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Rosie Searle 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.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

leatherpress I've just discovered via third party info online that BBC execs have decided not to renew their involvement in Hunted for a second season. Given the quality of the program, the strength of the production, cast, acting, not to mention reflecting the darker side of our zeitgeist, the decision is perplexing from a purist TV point of view. BBC have had recent form, a bit of a track record over recent years really, of canceling programs ahead of their time, often claiming poor ratings as an excuse, that were technically, thematically and stylistically rich, with ideas and characters that should have been allowed to be explored and developed: Outcasts, Zen, the cancellation of Whitechapel, Identity, The Body Farm, amongst others. The question is Why? What will happen with The Fall? Will it be allowed to reach it's final conclusion on it's own terms or be cut off. If not it would be interesting to know why some programs are given life and others not?

bob the moo Within the first few minutes of this show we have established that our sexy lead female role has a spy love interest and is pregnant with his child although he doesn't know this yet. She arranges to meet to tell him this after a job, but she is betrayed and, presumably, killed. From this basic setup you could probably scribble down some things that you presume will come back later and you'd probably be right. Anyway, jump to one year later and our pouty spy Sam is still alive and training in the woods for her return. Despite working in a professional full of secrets, betrayal and death, her employers allow Sam to stroll back into the job on the basis that they cannot do without her (although have managed to do so for a year). No sooner has she easily got inside that organisation then she follows that up by getting inside the house of her client's target – the Turners.From here the show tries to keep things moving with the usual story lines of moles, betrayal, sacrifice and so on, but it never really manages to sell any of it. The main problem is the writing since it always seems to take the line of least resistance and yet does so without conviction – I mean the plot twists and turns of 24 were hardly the most convincing, but that show threw itself into them and went for entertainment value. Hunted on the other hand seems unsure of what it is doing and ends up being some sort of awkward drama built on weak foundations. It isn't terrible by any means, it just feels so incredibly routine and lacking in spark; so unlikely plot developments abound (in particular the final episode, which is quite silly it how it resolves itself) but throughout there is so much that doesn't really do much more than fill time.Dialogue is regularly clunky and our characters change to suit whatever the story needs them to be or do; my personal favourite is Sam's inability to learn that if you have a gun then you don't really need to push it directly into the chest of someone else because that introduces the risk of being disarmed – which happens several episodes in a row to her, because the writer needs it to. The performances don't have too much to play with and they reflect the material by hanging around in a murky world between serious drama and silly spy action – they all try for darkness but they are trying without much help. George pouts like her life depends on it but she has no character to work with and never rings true; she is a decent presence and does reasonable well considering, but not that well. Malahide enjoys himself with an obvious villain but Moore never works out who he is. The others do okay, although that is just what is asked of them, the only one that riled me was Akinnuoye-Agbaje who is a much better presence than material given him with the office-bound and slighty bored character with a family subplot that goes nowhere.The first season ends with the potential for the show to continue but aside from the narrative allowing this, there is little else that would justify this. The material was no good and felt like it was always a case of "good enough"; the performances suffered because of this and the whole thing seems unconvincing and with shoddy writing throughout. As a background distraction maybe it has its merits but otherwise it was roundly average with almost nothing to really recommend it for.

eastbergholt2002 Given some of the poor reviews, I just had to say that I really enjoyed this series. It was complicated and you were never sure what was going on, but I had a good time. It was a little frustrated that too many issues were left unresolved, however the writer also worked on the X Files, so perhaps that was to be expected. Usually British thrillers are a little too slow for my taste, but this moved at a brisk pace. The heroine was likable and so were most of her colleagues. What I found interesting is that loyalty is becoming a thing of the past. I have been in corporations where you can't trust anyone and everyone has an obscure agenda. Working for yourself is probably the only answer. I have actually completed large power projects in India, and my company did look at doing business in Pakistan in the 1990s. Despite the accusation in the show that multi-nationals were ripping off the poor people in Pakistan, the reality has been that most Western banks and companies won't touch the country with a ten foot barge pole. There are easier and less corrupt places in the world to do business. Pakistan's infrastructure is poor partly because Western companies won't invest. A colleague visited Karachi in the 1990s and had a couple of bodyguards meet him at the airport. He then watched a riot take place outside his hotel. Life is too short for this nonsense. Also, the Pakistanis would hire an investment bank to handle the auction. They give you the opportunity to increase your bid. If it's too low, they will provide guidance. They are trying to get the highest rice for their client and the process rules tends to go out of the window. That said, who really cares.

SilkyWilky Just watched the last episode and it was gripping to the poetic end.Whilst its a bit Lara Croft and of course dwells in the realms of spy fantasies, its holds the human touch reasonably well all through. The characters are well acted and realistically... or should I say literary, complex without all having to be revealed.Some of the lines are cheesy, but I think you have to see that somewhat as understated Brit humour, the kind of humour that would happen in real life in high drama.The only downside for me was it was too fast paced at times, for me I mean. There was a fair amount of "chill time" in the series, though I'd like to see more day to day stuff, more of the human touch, though I'm not one for fast action movies at all, so for its genre I'd say it was spot on.I hope we're not fed an identical twin of a second series. I can see there is potential for it to reach another level if the script writers are bold.Enjoy!