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24 Hours to Live

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Ethan Hawke in a scene in 24 Hours to Live. (Ster-Kinekor)
Ethan Hawke in a scene in 24 Hours to Live. (Ster-Kinekor)

What it's about:

24 Hours to Live is a fast-paced action-packed movie about a career assassin (Ethan Hawke) who is given a chance at redemption after his employer brings him back to life temporarily after being killed on the job. 

What we thought:

24 Hours to Live is a movie about a guy that…you guessed it…has 24 hours to live. 

And where might he find himself during his last 24 hours on earth? In Cape Town. The Mother City. You can be forgiven for thinking this must then surely then be a local flick, but it’s not.

This high-action thriller is as Hollywood as it gets. It stars Ethan Hawke alongside Paul Anderson and Rutger Hauer was directed by Brian Smrz, known for his work on Live Free or Die Hard (2007) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Hawke takes on the role of Travis Conrad, a career assassin that comes back with a vengeance after being killed on the job. Yes, he actually dies and is then brought back to life but his “second life” has an expiration date and he better hurry up and get shit done before he runs out of time. 

It was pretty impressive to see the beautiful Mother City as a backdrop for this high-voltage action flick. The crazy stunts and explosions will make you go: “How on earth did they get permission from Patricia to blow stuff up like that?!”

Capetonians will probably be more interested in identifying the locations than the actual storyline. I tried spotting my office in a few scenes, but no luck. 

I nearly lost it when I saw them destroying an Excite taxi beyond recognition. They definitely had a Hollywood budget, because I can’t imagine the local taxi service willingly giving up their vehicle to be demolished like that without a lot of cash exchanging hands. 

The storyline is pretty average and the flick is probably more straight-to-DVD vibes, but it was still fun to watch Ethan Hawke running around the Waterfront trying to catch the bad guys. 


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