Hunters Season 2 Review: After a long wait, season two of Hunters is back, and with that cliffhanger at the end of season one, there was a lot riding over here to be honest. With Hitler in the fold and Logan Lerman decked out with long hair and a whole beard, the promos teased a more active season, however, what I ended up getting over here is a dull conclusion that never caught my attention fully. Plane Movie Review: Gerard Butler, Mike Colter Make for a Fun Dynamic-Duo in This Fairly Simple but Entertaining Action Thriller (LatestLY Exclusive).
The bulk of season two revolves around the Hunters banding back together to take out Hitler who is secretly residing in Argentina in the late '70s. That’s right, they pick up that old-age conspiracy theory and run with it. Now I love stories that deal with alternate-history concepts like this – the recent Wolfenstein games and Man in the High Castle (at least the first season) are perfect examples of it where they balance the tone of it all really well and deliver a wacky or a serious experience that lives up to the potential of its concept, yet Hunters Season Two never goes the full way.
We start out here with Jonah, who kills Meyer (Al Pacino) after realising that he was the real Wolf, and then disbanding the Hunters, is now living under the identity of Sam and is engaged, but under the rug he is still fighting Nazis on his own terms in Europe. When he gets a clue that Hitler is alive and living in South America, he starts banding up the Hunters together and so begins our mission.
One good thing has to be said is that Logan Lerman’s Jonah is way better written over than he was in the first season. Basically, being a stand-in to just service the story in season one, Jonah actually feels like he has some personality in season two with a lot to lose, and that automatically makes for a compelling protagonist that I could actually root for. A shift in personality, he makes for an effective leader and Lerman seems in pretty good form here.
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The classic band also has that tack chemistry attached to them with a few twists and turns, while Udo Kier’s Hitler makes for an intimidating antagonist, even though he feels very much underused. Jennifer Jason Leigh also makes for a great addition this season playing the role of Chava Apfelbaum, who is hot on Hitler’s trail and begins this season by gouging out someone’s eyeball and placing it on a statue. That’s the kind of wackiness I needed, but Hunters never delivers much in this regard.
It's extremely poorly paced to begin with. The first few episodes end up feeling like a slog where nothing really happens, and even when things pick up, the excitement feels scattered. One thing it does do better than season one is control the tone well, but unfortunately that’s not enough for how much of a bore it can feel at many of the places. It does have its moments where it completely goes over-the-top, for example an espionage mission in an opera house to find a high-level Nazi operative close to Hitler, and while that reminded me of a stellar action sequence from Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, other than that though, the excitement is never all there.
It doesn’t really have much of a build up to it, and when you’re waiting for something to happen, that particular thing doesn’t end up happening and you’re just wondering what was all that about. I can’t particularly spoil that sequence, but involves the character of Millie Morris and takes place in the first episode which sees her make a difficult decision. Star Wars The Bad Batch Season 2 Review: Dave Filoni’s ‘Clone Wars’ Spinoff is Light on Plot But Delivers On the Franchise’s Grand Spectacle (LatestLY Exclusive).
Al Pacino’s Meyer makes a return over here too after being killed off in season one, however, his inclusion just feels like a hindrance to the plot in season two. Returning through some poorly placed flashbacks that focuses on Meyer’s life in 1975 which fleshes out his story as the Wolf a bit more, this wasn’t needed here even though I enjoyed watching Pacino in the role. It just brought the larger plot to a halt, and I wish I was watching Hunters would have switched back to some more Nazi ass-kicking.
Yay!
Logan Lerman and Team
Can Deliver on Some Action Sequences
Nay!
Al Pacino’s Inclusion
Feels Dull and Poorly Paced
Final Thoughts
Hunters ends its run with a season two that is often dull and can’t deliver upon its wacky concept. While some of the action sequences do deliver and the core team makes for an entertaining group, the plot here is just poorly paced with a lack of excitement attached to it. Season two of Hunters releases on January 13, 2023, on Amazon Prime Video.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 13, 2023 11:03 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).