I’ll have to admit I’ve got a problem… and that I’m part of the problem. I’ve become intrigued by these toss-aside Bruce Willis quickies that use and abuse his name on the marketing. If maybe I didn’t give them my money, he’d run out of his and actually have to try to make a good flick again. Alas…

So Apex is another one of Those Movies. This time, it’s the near future as evidenced by generic holographic screens and poles we are ensured are advanced teleporters (but are really just poles jammed into the dirt). What do the rich and powerful do if not hunt other humans? But one hunter is getting tired of how easy it is and demands more advanced prey. Like Bruce Willis.

And I do mean Bruce Willis. In one of this surprisingly not terrible moments in this flick, Bruce Willis is described as an ex-cop who has survived everything including injuries from jumping off a building (Die Hard), getting shot in the back at an airport (12 Monkeys), and being the sole-survivor of a train crash (Unbreakable).

That’s a decent joke for a movie that should be utter crap but is only mild crap. This is a B movie in a decent way… it’s not exactly good but it’s not exactly bad either. The director can put together shots and give us reasonably good suspense scenes. And the real star of the movie (because, spoiler alert, it ain’t Bruce Willis) is steely-eyed Neal McDonough… one of those That Guys who usually makes an impression but you may never know his name. He’s good here playing intense but reserved nutso.

But don’t mistake me for saying this is a good film – it’s watchable if you are the kind of person who digs some faintly stinky action films. I wouldn’t watch it again and I’d hesitate to recommend it to anyone except an (ahem) die hard fan of the genre.

As far as Bruce Willis goes, they had him on set for a day or two, I imagine. But mainly the film is about the hunters who wind up killing each other with Bruce Willis allegedly watching from a distance through carefully selected (but unrelated) reaction shots. Sometimes he’ll interact with the rest of the cast but it’s rare. And then his stunt double goes on a killer spree from the neck down. It’s tradition.

Don’t watch this movie unless you have tongue in cheek and want to chuckle at something that has limited merit as a dumb action movie. It’s marginal but it’s not terrible.

Score: 69