The
Dnestrian Autonomous Republic is fictional, but it certainly sounds related to
the Dniester, in Ukraine. Unfortunately, the good Dnestrians are in for a
similar experience when the old regime launches a brutal Russia-backed coup. However,
they did not plan for the presence of a former CIA agent, who gets to show off
all his Die Hard skills in Paul
Tanter’s Kill Ratio (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in Los Angeles.
In
the case of James Henderson, the “former” is somewhat uncertain, but not the
CIA part. Whichever the case might be, he is currently working in the Dnestrian
Republic as a fixer for Gabrielle Martin, an American telecom exec hoping to
broker a major deal. Unfortunately, the negotiations will be interrupted by a
sudden barrage of shelling. With the announcement of the death beloved,
democratically elected Pres. Tania Petrenko, the evil Gen. Lazar would seem to
have the whip hand. However, reports of Petrenko’s demise have been exaggerated.
Somehow, Martin manages to blunder across her during her unsuccessful attempt
to reach the airport.
As
fate would have it, Henderson and Martin will try to shelter Petrenko in the
very same western hotel where Lazar has set up his command center. Fortunately,
Henderson can field dress a shrapnel wound nearly as well as he kills people.
He will need both talents to keep alive the deposed president and the U.S.
national, who is supposedly his boss.
Apparently,
when Henderson was at the CIA, he had an unlimited license to kill, or so-called
kill ratio, thereby establishing the rather drab title. Regardless, Ratio is a refreshing blast of
pro-freedom, super-hawkish 1980s-style action movie goodness. The coup-plotters
are not merely evil—they also have Russia’s backing. Why aren’t there more action
movies informed by the dangers of the Putin era getting released and why did we
have to wait for Ireland to produce this one? Frankly, there is an audience
thirsting for this kind of film, but if it isn’t marketed to them, they will
easily overlook it.
Ratio mostly features UK
television actors, but they get the job done. Tom (Black Sails) Hopper’s Henderson is undeniably tall, square-jawed,
and broad shouldered. As a bonus, he also has a fairly intense screen presence
and clear diction. He sure looks a lot like the Jack Reacher of Lee Child’s
books, which should be due for a film reboot sometime around now. Lacy (Game of Thrones) Moore is terrific as
Petrenko, making courage and integrity look pretty hot for the meathead
audience. Nick (The Tudors) Dunning
and Brian McGuinness mangle Eastern European accents and shamelessly chew the
scenery as Lazar and his right-hand man Vorza—and its all good. Amy Huberman is
a bit vanilla as Martin, but at least she does not play her as a completely
passive victim.
