Liam Hemsworth becomes prey in Quibi’s Most Dangerous Game
By Carla Davis
Movie app Quibi launched on April 6, offering up a heaping helping of episodic movies, ranging from comedies to thrillers. One of their most anticipated series was Most Dangerous Game.
The Most Dangerous Game has been around in some shape or form since 1924, when the short story by Richard Connell was first published. The original tale introduced us to Rainsford, a big game hunter traveling by yacht, who falls overboard and washes up on Ship-Trap Island. There, he encounters another hunter named Zaroff, who has decided that hunting animals is no longer thrilling enough for him.
Rainsford must now evade Zaroff in the rough terrain of the island for an agreed-upon period of three days. It’s a tense, exciting story, and has inspired several movies over the years, most recently The Hunt, and now Quibi’s “chapter movie.”
In this updated version, Liam Hemsworth is Dodge, a former track star turned real estate investor. His latest real estate venture was a very, very bad investment, he is desperate for financial backing, and not just to pay his bills. Dodge has a pregnant wife, and he has just found out that he has an inoperable brain tumor.
He has no money for medical treatment, and it seems like he is now going to leave his wife and unborn child penniless as well.
Enter Miles Sellars, an affluent CEO played by Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds). He is unwilling to invest in Dodge’s property, but he has a proposition for him instead. He represents a group of wealthy people who love to hunt, and this proposition could earn Dodge millions of dollars.
Of course, the proposition is that Dodge allow these people to hunt him for a full 24 hours. If he survives, he will end up with millions of dollars, and at least his wife and baby will be financially secure when he succumbs to the tumor.
The first four episodes, at around ten minutes each, are engrossing. Hemsworth is believable as an athletic runner, and he does a good job of portraying Dodge’s mental dilemma. Waltz is fantastic as the smug Sellars, and the last five minutes of the fourth episode are intense, as Dodge realizes the spot he is now in.
The next episode should start to prove to us whether or not Dodge has what it takes to withstand being prey for the next 24 hours. After all, as author Connell stated: “Man is the most dangerous animal of all.”
Next. When the Street Lights Go On is a nail biter. dark
If you want to check out Most Dangerous Game, along with Quibi’s other content, they are currently offering a 90-day free trial.
Are you planning to subscribe to Quibi? Which of their “movies in chapters” are you most wanting to check out? Let us know in the comments section.