‘Take Cover’ Review
Stars: Scott Adkins, Jack Parr, Alice Eve, Madalina Bellariu Ion, Alba de Torrebruna | Written by Nick McKinless, Joshua Todd James | Directed by Nick McKinless
Take Cover is yet another take on one of, if not the most used plots in film, ready for retirement the protagonist, be they a spy, thief or killer for hire, agrees to one last job only to have it all go sideways. In this case, it’s Sam Lorde (Scott Adkins; Re-Kill, The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud) who we first see on a roof along with his spotter Ken (Jack Parr; The Last Breath, The Limehouse Golem) talking about God as they wait for their target to arrive.
Their target does arrive, and they get their kill, but Sam also kills a woman who seemingly throws herself in front of him trying to save him. He retreats to his cabin in the woods to deal with this, and when their boss Tamara (Alice Eve; Haunting of the Queen Mary, Bees Make Honey) contacts him with his next assignment he tells her it will be his last.
Any doubt the viewer might have that this will not end well should be dissipated when the duo see their hotel room, a lavish suite with a huge glass wall and balcony. And sure enough, right after a pair of masseuses Mona (Madalina Bellariu Ion; Homeless Ashes, Dampyr) and Lily (Alba de Torrebruna; Dew Point, Apartment in Athens) arrive so does a hail of bullets from a pair of snipers on a nearby tower.
Take Cover marks the feature debut from stuntman turned director Nick McKinless and along with writer Joshua Todd James (Alien Uprising, Pound of Flesh) he’s come up with a solid, if at time predictable, single-location thriller. While it seems at first that, with the characters pinned down and trying to stay out of the sniper’s sight, that Take Cover will be more of a suspense film, that changes quickly.
This being a Scott Adkins film, the audience is expecting plenty of hand-to-hand action, so it’s no surprise that the hotel’s staff and ownership are in on the plot. That allows for everything from singular assassins to a heavily armed team to take their turns trying to take the room’s occupants out. And given the amount of gunfire, fires started and bodies sent plummeting to the ground below, the police must have been paid off as well, since they never show up.
The action is well staged, with stunt coordinator Adrian McGaw (Fast X, Men in Black: International) delivering several good fights and firefights as the film goes on and taking Adkins and company out becomes more important. The staging of these is complicated by the need to keep them relatively short and out of the snipers’ line of fire, a challenge the stunt team handles nicely.
It won’t be hard to guess who is behind this attack or why, but honestly, does that really matter as long as the action scenes work? More of a problem is the fact you can just as easily guess who is going to live and die, which does cut down on the suspense somewhat. Predictability doesn’t however, stop the film’s final scenes from being quite satisfying.
Overall, Take Cover is an enjoyable action film that should lead to more director’s gigs for McKinless. The cast do well despite some clunky, and familiar, dialogue about God, government and morality popping up during the film’s early stages and occasional lulls in the action. While it doesn’t get any points for originality, it does get more than enough for the mayhem it puts on the screen to more than make up for it.
***½ 3.5/5
Brainstorm Media gave Take Cover a limited theatrical release, and it’s now available on VOD and Digital Platforms.
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