Heart of the Hunter (2024) User Reviews

Underwhelming

[GryeD · 4/10 · 1 April 2024]

I watched it on Netflix and it's my first time watching an African production-based movie.

It's not bad, this movie is decent by all standards.

The terrible issue lies with the story and the execution The pacing feels very drawn out and messy to the point I found myself getting bored of the movie.

I won't dive into the specifics, but there are bland loopholes that sort of ruin the whole setup here. Like I want to get involved and emotionally invested in the movie. The potential is great, the transition between languages is an edge over most. Action wise it's up to par and no issues about that.

If I had one suggestion, the story should have had more polishing and enforcing.

This is a good movie

[Oscar-Award · 6/10 · 30 March 2024]

I think this is more like an action adventure movie.. the way is goes it is not so professional but the story is ok. Not 100% perfect but it is what it is. So it is ok to watch

I strongly suggest to watch and review this because this movie has potential. I am more like a tv series person but sometimes I watch movies too. This one I guess is one of them.

I always admire the camera directing visual effects and soundtracks of a movie, This has them about 6 out of 10 level. So it is so interesting

The shooting scenes are more realistic and fighting and other are the same.

Color grading is also in a good condition it is a good movie to watch at home. And with a big screen I think it would be much better . But I watch at home in a small computer monitor which is good.

I have seen many movies like this and I could say this has 6 out of 10 rating as my opinion.

Interesting Film

[rogo-89522 · 6/10 · 8 April 2024]

The acting was superior and the story well written. As a Canadian I found the names initially confusing and needed to rewind and reference IMDB to get them all sorted but It didn't take away from my enjoyment of this movie. What did were the hand to hand combat sequences as either the actors errors or the directors shooting angles were off just enough to have punches and strikes obviously fake and this started in the first fights and continued throughout the movie. For that I downrated this movie two stars. Overall I enjoyed it very much and learned of some new to me very good actors. Give it a try.

Lame action scenes horrible dialogue & storytelling

[scottgmckenzie · 2/10 · 6 April 2024]

This movie is a dumpster fire! Who pens this nonsense? And seriously, where do they find these actresses to portray tactical team members? It's all pure fiction! And don't get me started on the guy miraculously pulling a serrated combat knife out of his chest-yeah, right! This is no John Wick; it's amateur hour! From the cringe-worthy fight scenes to the atrocious storytelling and the ludicrous villain with the girls-utterly ridiculous!

Netflix should be ashamed of this it's not even B level bad to be enjoyable it's utter nonsense and done I lasted 10 minutes there is a reason it's getting trashed.

Don't waste your time

[kjohn-77891 · 2/10 · 5 April 2024]

Netflix have done it again, yes they have made another movie that's a stinker.

In truth I have lost count of how many Netflix films are produced by them and they end up being awful.

Let me tell you this, don't believe the reviews that are giving this movie over five stars because it's a lie.

The story is one that's been done a million times before and much better, the pacing of the movie is not good, slow at times and you find yourself checking the time, which is a bad sign.

The fight scenes, Netflix says this movie is like John Wick, it's not the fight scenes are very amateurish at best, the old you go I go fight scenes, we have move Don from those type of scenes years ago.

I wanted to like this and fell for the reps of false advertising by Netflix, I won't fall it again.

Waste of my time, terrible stinker!

[psxexperten · 1/10 · 31 March 2024]

Oh my - that was really bad!

This was the most pointless excuse of a movie I have ever seen. I want my time back. It started off very promising and just went all the way down under the hill from there. Acting was terrible maybe because the script was so poor. So sad. I'm so angry I can't give it less than a star. The only thing worse than sitting through it to see if it would by some chance redeem itself, was the ending. Such a waste of my time, energy and electricity. Wish I had read the reviews before watching this mess. My goodness the rubbish that passes for entertainment these days is astounding. Find something else to watch!

Bad! Too bad!

[esperancitarevalo · 1/10 · 30 April 2024]

Dear movie watchers, Don't follow the good comments of this movie ! It's such a lie. Who believes in the acting of the woman who is part of the "intelligence office"? She is acting like in a soap opera instead of a "thriller and action movie". I completely agree what it has been written in other comments here. There is lack of everything: no consistent dialogues, poor script ...what resumes in Bad acting. Unfortunately this is a horrible copy of other productions not made by Netflix. What is Netflix thinking about this charade? How in the world can it be compared to the movies "John Wick" ? Better go to sleep bro.

SA really getting better at this....

[therealjaysmoke · 6/10 · 14 April 2024]

Yooooo Botha, SA stepped up the game with this one man! So proud of them. I really enjoyed watching this. The cinematography was on point. The special effects was decent for an African production. But the acting was spot on from majority of the cast. I also loved the story, not many times do you get such mature and interesting crime story. I also enjoyed the Cape Town scenery. And no they didn't show table mountain.

The only drawback for me was the weak ending. That was a complete miss. The story could have done with a better ending honestly. It was cheap, it was very predictable and even though they were trying to pull that great spin off, it just didn't work and made the whole movie feel under developed.

If I had one advice for you, it would be skip the ending....cuz it will ruin the whole vibe.

Absolutely Fantastic

[amyrara-10358 · 10/10 · 30 March 2024]

Absolutely Fantastic. The storyline, the cinematography, and the actors. The diversity in the show is incredible. What a well-made movie. The director did so well. We need more movies like this in South Africa. It was a refreshing change from the usual drugs, taxi/micro violence and SEX-based movies we've been getting. What a film. I would recommend it to anyone who's into action films. The great thing is that the action is South African based, too, on the weapons used. It's truly a South African film in every possible way. I could go on and on. Well done to the entire team involved. No flaws exist.

Interesting Spy-Fi Conspiracy

[Pairic · 7/10 · 1 April 2024]

Heart of the Hunter: South African Political Corruption/Conspiracy Thriller in which turned government intelligence agencies make use of all of the myriad surveillance assets at their disposal. Refreshingly the main villain isn't white, in fact you have to teach the third tier of the conspiracy to find a white leader though many of the field agents are a lighter shade of pale. Some savage hand to hand fighting, car chases and generally the sort of thrills and spills you'd expect from this genre. The conspiracy is a bit more sophisticated though even if the main crook is a tad in OTT in his portrayal. There is also an interesting secret group of assassins. Certainly worth watching. Directed by Mandla Dube, Written by Deon Meyer and Willem Grobler. On Netflix. 6.5/10.

1 Small step for Deon Meyer and a giant step for South African Film

[tlotlegomothapo-71636 · 10/10 · 20 April 2024]

The story is capturing and authentic. I've watched a many African production-based movies and this is by far one of the best.

The story is extremely relatable to Africans as a whole and reflects a lot that happens in African politics (Corrupt Leaders that "betrayed the struggle of the people"). Finally found a movie that reflects our own emotions, struggles, and triumphs. Such stories that connect African history to African Political reality, should be celebrated more.

The incorporation of King Shaka Zulu's spear and African Story telling elements was what topped it up for me personally, although the ending could've been better, overall, I am really impressed by the movie.

Pretty good

[okylieemma · 9/10 · 21 April 2024]

Pretty good movie, I read some of these reviews and thought wow... some have an underlying tone... but nevertheless it was a great watch with my family and very easy to understand. The actors were so good I could feel their emotions radiating off of them. In moments yes, it could be a little straight faced, but it went with the scenes at the time, but i'm still docking a star.

I really could understand the portrayal of the governmental corruption. I understand why for some, it may be a little confusing and hard to understand why, but to me this resembled how modern day corruption could work. I really think that Netflix should have promoted this more to have this reach its full potential, but good watch.

Brilliant South African crime movie

[ashleighjbutterworth · 10/10 · 15 April 2024]

Brilliant acting, great story line and a great tale of deception and politics. Deon Meyer does a fantastic job of introducing characters, while still leaving you in suspense. The movie starts off with Zuko and Johnny Klein being associates and it takes time before you realise how they know each other. It incorporates empathy, romance and a whole lot of action. The stunts are impeccable not just for South African standards but in general. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone looking for an authentic South African tale about crime, politics and mystery. I would equate it to a South African Jason Bourne in terms of self-discovery.

A good action film that gets your heart pumping

[mrdanielkanewilliams · 8/10 · 7 April 2024]

This film is about a retired spy called Zuko (Bonko khoza) who gets asked to do one last job to protect his family. And I know that storyline doesn't sound original at all, but I really enjoyed this film. It's not quite as good as some of Netflix's top action films such as The Interceptor or Extraction but I would still recommend it and if it gets taken off Netflix and given a physical release I would definitely buy it.

I enjoyed the action in this film because there was a good mixture of fist and gory knife fights and there was also some good shooting action as well. But some of the shooting was a bit unrealistic because even the highly trained bad guys couldn't seem to shoot Zuko from a couple of feet away.

It was also a nice surprise when one of the bad guys turned out to be a double agent and she showed that she's not just a damsel in distress, but I would have liked to have seen her do a bit more fighting and/or killing.