Bruce Willis is a Hollywood legend. One who has starred in many outstanding films, including the Christmas classic, Die Hard. However, he has also featured in some less than stellar movies, especially in recent years. Usually, these films are released and then quickly forgotten. However, an utterly lambasted Bruce Willis film with a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes is riding high on streaming.
According to FlixPatrol, Out Of Death, a Bruce Willis film released this year, is the 8th most popular film on Hulu, beating out hundreds of movies with much better reviews.
Out Of Death sees Shannon Mathers (played by Jaime King) accidentally stumble on a crime scene while on a hiking trip. She witnesses four crooked cops killing a man and decides to record it. However, the cops discover Shannon and try to hunt her down, hoping to cover up evidence of their crimes. While running from these cops, Shannon encounters Jack Harris (played by Willis,) a retired cop and park ranger who tries to protect her and bring the criminals to justice.
The film had a quick turnaround time, with most of the filming occurring during November 2020. This was due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed the filming back several months and led to several delays during the shooting. Out Of Death was one of the first films to be shot after the onset of the pandemic, meaning that many of the processes that ensure films can film safely and smoothly were not yet in place. Because of this, the entire movie was shot in just 9 days. And all of Willis’ scenes were shot in a single day, with a lookalike filling in for the rest. Which is both an impressive achievement and a good hint as to why the film isn’t well-reviewed.
Critics were obviously not kind to Out Of Death. Many said that the film was generic, offering nothing that hadn’t been seen before. Other critics also criticized the lack of action scenes, pointing out that despite being structured like an action movie, the movie features few intense moments, especially compared to other Willis vehicles. Most of the criticism was directed at Willis, with many critics using their reviews to point out how disappointing Willis’ recent output is. Especially as the majority of his recent credits are in straight to VOD low-budget action movies where he appears for only a handful of scenes while still getting top billing.
In fact, the most memorable review came from Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com, who described the film as “the latest stop on the “Is Bruce Willis okay?” tour of VOD cinema.” Viewers were slightly nicer to the film, and it currently has a 43% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. While many viewers echo critics’ complaints, quite a few deem the film an acceptable action B-movie.
Out Of Death is a fantastic example of how streaming gives lesser-known or lower-budget films their time in the spotlight, allowing audiences to watch movies they would usually overlook. It also shows that while Willis has helmed many stinkers in recent years, he’s still a name that draws an audience and that audiences are still clamoring for more classic Bruce Willis action.