First Hit: What happened? It could have been a good action/thriller if we were given the psychological path of Kevin Bacon’s decline. We weren’t and what we got was a mess that ended so poorly it made me laugh.
The film begins fairly well with pictorial snippets of how the family was close.
We didn’t spend enough time there. We didn’t learn why Kevin cared so much or his wanting to create a safe and secure life for himself and his brood.
Short glimpses of him at his job making sense of insurance risks help, and are only part of the picture. We didn’t learn enough about the second, younger son, who wasn’t the “golden boy” of the family and who turns out to be a more important part of the picture.
What we got were tasters and quick visuals then graphic violence. I did like John Goodman’s character and it made sense that his son was the “bad boy” of the film.
The worse part, which brought most of the audience to laughter, was the next to ending scene where both protagonists end up sitting on a church pew, together and wounded.
Overall: This could have been a good film but John Wan didn't understand the importance of setting up the plot then go to a crisp action ending. Instead he couldn't wait to bring us the action and we're left wondering why.