Bullet Points: Instinct to Kill
Like most action fans my first Mark Dacascos experience was watching Only the Strong. A great 90’s film that continued a trend at the time of troubled teens in high school being helped by a strong and positive role model.
I really enjoy Only the Strong and Mark’s work in that film. So I found it odd that nearly two months into our existence that BulletproofAction.com has not reviewed a single Mark Dacascos movie. I am about to right that wrong as I look at the 2001 movie, Instinct to Kill…
In Instinct to Kill, Dacascos plays J.T. Dillon. Dillon is an expert in self defense and you can hire him if you have a problem that needs to be solved… an equalizer of sorts.
Dillon’s old cop buddy, Lance Difford (or Diff for those in the know) calls in a favor to Dillon and asks him to protect and train Tess Beckett, the wife of his former partner, Jim Beckett.
And just who does Tess need protecting from? None other than Jim Beckett himself.
Let’s get to the Bullet Points…
- Marriage Made in Hell: The movie begins with some background on the relationship between Jim Beckett (Tim Abell) and Tess Beckett (Missy Crider). Jim is definitely far from Tess’ Prince Charming. Once they are married Tess quickly learns that Jim likes the bed to be made every day in a specific way, he is verbally and physically abusive, he’s anti-birth control and one last thing… he has a woman’s finger hidden in a box under the bathroom sink. Needless to say Jim goes to prison, thanks to his wife’s testimony… roll the credits this was a short and not a feature length film? NOPE…
- He’s On The Loose: As the tag line says, Jim Beckett is on the loose and hungry for blood! He escapes prison, killing multiple people on his way out. Which is not odd behavior for a serial killer. He is described as “evil on two legs”. Which is appropriate considering his MO was to brutally rape women then tie a plastic bag around their heads until they suffocated.
- Honky Tonk Man: With Jim Beckett out of prison Lance (Kadeem Hardison) instructs Tess to find J.T. Dillon and he’ll be able to help her. Tess does find him at a local bar where she once again has man problems as some of the good ol’ boy patrons make the moves on her… this gives us our first opportunity to see J.T. Dillon in some action when a bar fight breaks out. Let me just say that upon the first meeting of Dillon and Tess you don’t get the vibe that these two could hook up at some point in the movie then you have literally never watched an action movie in your entire life.
- Basic Training Package: Dillon believes that Tess in her current state is nothing more than a walking target so he agrees to give Tess one month of basic training (a $999.99 retail value, but for Tess it is absolutely free) but he does warn her she needs the will to fight and that is something that can’t be taught. Words of wisdom from J.T. Dillon. Tess definitely has the most character development in the film. I would not be shocked to see this one pop up on Escape TV sooner or later.
- Master of Disguise: Tim Abell puts in a solid performance as a serial killer on a mission. It is not so over the top that it becomes ridiculous, although some of his disguises are… I think you’ll all love his special Rob Zombie disguise best. I know I did.
- Now You See It, Now You Don’t: One continuity flaw is after getting shot in the shoulder, Diff (Kadeem Hardison) is wearing a sling. Then in a scene that follows outside of Jim Beckett’s father’s house, he is not wearing the sling or showing any signs of the injury. But in the next scene he is featured in he is once again wearing the sling.
- Did You Know?: Instinct to Kill would mark the second time that Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison starred in a movie together, the first time was in the 1997 film Drive.
Instinct to Kill was not heavy on action, but the action it did include was well done and reality based. This is definitely not an over the top, in your face, explosion of action but it was an enjoyable movie and definitely has me in the mood to check out more films in the Mark Dacascos filmography, so don’t be surprised to see more Dacascos reviews on the site in the future.
