Bullet Points: The Take Down

You know that old song “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys”? Well if I had any sort of marketable musical talent I think I would record my own version entitled “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Hitmen”.

If action movies have taught me anything over the years, it is that the life of a hitman is a pretty miserable one. You are literally doing to the dirtiest of someone else’s dirty work and at the same time know in the back of your head that at some point, the people who are paying you to kill other people will eventually pay someone to kill you.

2017’s The Take Down was a reminder of just how quickly things can turn for a hitman…

• Jacked Up: The movie opens with our unlikely protagonist, Jack. Jack works as a hitman and we see him preparing to take out his latest target, Santos, a businessman who betrayed Jack’s boss. The hit is set to take place at Santos’ office. Jack and Aaron, his partner on this high profile assignment, manage to make their way into the office building taking out the security guards in the process, but some miscommunication between the two hired guns leads to a life altering event as Jack accidentally guns down Santos’ young son, before he kills Santos. Jack blames Aaron, Aaron blames Jack and things are off to a jacked up start.

• Termination: Jack gets word that his boss Eastwood (Kevin Mangar) wants to see him. The call was not unexpected. Despite being a top performer, Jack did violate Eastwood’s “no mistakes” rule when he accidentally shot Santos’ son. So Jack mans up, gets his house in order and heads over to Eastwood’s knowing full well he may be driving to the site of his demise. When Jack arrives at Eastwood’s palatial estate, he finds himself in the backyard being confronted by Harris, one of Jack’s fellow hitmen. Harris is seconds away from shooting Jack right in the head, when Harris and two of Eastwood’s goons are taken out by a nearby sniper and that’s when Jack’s phone rings…

• Let’s Make a Deal: …on the other end of the line is Hawkins (Vanessa Coffey), Hawkins works for the government and has been trying to take down Eastwood for selling classified intel to the highest bidders. Hawkins makes a deal with Jack…. he takes down Eastwood for her and she’ll give Jack and his young daughter, a new life and a fresh start… free of Jack’s hitman past. It is an offer Jack can’t refuse and he immediately goes to work.

• Hunter or Hunted?:  Jack finds himself in both the role of the hunter and the hunted. Jack’s primary objective is to track down his former employer Eastwood but at the same time Jack has to stay alive as he runs all over London trying to avoid the seemingly endless supply of assassins Eastwood has looking to take down Jack before Jack can take down Eastwood.

Stuntman turned actor Jack Jagodka, who played our heroic hitman Jack, is far from a polished thespian, but he did show promise in what was his first feature role. Jagodka also has an interesting look which makes him a face you probably won’t soon forget. Jagodka’s still rough around the edges delivery was juxtaposed nicely by Kevin Mangar’s smooth as silk performance as the cold and calculating Eastwood.

Now let me take you down to the Bonus Bullet Points…

• AKA: The working title for the movie was Amber. That title makes sense because Amber is Jack’s daughter name and her character is Jack’s driving force and she finds herself as a pawn in the game between Jack, Eastwood and Hawkins.
• The Name Game: Not only does The Take Down feature a character named Eastwood, one of Eastwood’s assassins is named Bronson.
• Stripped Down Rating: One thing that caught my attention before I even hit play was that The Take Down was rated PG-13. As the movie began I thought that may have been incorrect, because there was certainly R rated level violence and some adult language… but then at one point Jack ducks into a strip club as he is playing cat and mouse with some of his fellow assassins and the PG-13 rating was apparent.
• Written and Directed By: The Take Down marks the first feature directed by David Newton. Newton, much like the star of the movie Jack Jagodka, comes from an extensive background in the stunt world.
• Surprise Ending: The Take Down had an ending scene that I did not see coming.