Back in 1984 Tim Roth played a junior iceman opposite John Hurt’s seasoned veteran in The Hit. Now, almost 30 years on, it’s Roth who’s Hurt in Craig Viveiros’ witty, grisly Brit flick about a weary assassin reluctantly mentoring a cocky upstart (Jack O’Connell).
Graduating swiftly from hotwiring motors to amputating hands, the latter’s training day gets further complicated when his path crosses that of sultry Talulah Riley.
Shame Peter Mullan can’t keep his mad dog in check as the human trafficker hooking up with O’Connell’s mom (Kierston Wareing), or that the ingenious plot eventually degenerates into blood-splattered overkill.
