Hunters Review: A Promise to Remember Shines Brightly
Memories last through passing on to generations, the remembrance of where someone comes from and what that heritage means. The Holocaust, through the atrocities inflicted, is a reminder of how much can be survived, and how despite evil, the soul endures.
Hunters, the Amazon Prime Video series, holds onto that endurance and that survival and turns it into a massive game of chess, where Nazis have fled to America and some three decades later, are now being hunted by a team aligned with uncovering their secrets and allowing justice to prevail.
Despite some identity issues early on, Hunters finds a beautiful poignancy through its more tragic and dramatic moments by telling the stories of those who endured.
The show pays respect to the history of the Jewish people above all else, something that series creator David Weil clearly holds dear. It’s here where the show finds its most profound and deeply moving work, through flashbacks of hardships and horrors done in the camps and the human spirit still shining through. It’s powerful, and done with such care.
The episodes move at a remarkable clip, using its momentum to say so much about humanity during its hours while also providing a great revenge tale. Revenge usually comes in the form of brutal violence, but keeps a consistent tone of a time where civil unrest and political unraveling feel close at hand.
Hunters plays with its secrets, allowing a little bit extra at the right time to leave each episode an artful exploration of its characters and the world they hunt. The team Al Pacino’s Meyer Offerman creates is one of eclectic backgrounds, all contributing different personalities that the show is going for. They all play a role in defining Logan Lerman’s Jonah as he starts to peel back the curtain of Nazis in America.
Logan Lerman, as the lead, finds a balance to portraying the frustration and naivete of his character, his entrance into this new line of life a way to see violence and vengeance through fresh eyes. His character is conflicted, Lerman able to use the loss Jonah goes through as a means to drive him forward while still trying to see the good in humanity along the way.
Al Pacino is having some fun with his own role, respectful of the history and the weight his character possesses while doing so with a wink and a nod. There’s a playfulness to him, but he commands the dramatic scenes just as powerfully.
The rest of the cast all bring something unique and exciting to the show, with three standouts in particular: Josh Radnor, Jerrika Hinton, and Greg Austin. Radnor’s character is flashy with his backstory and always being on during a scene, and Hinton brings a vulnerability to her role that makes her much more complicated than the FBI agent clicking things in place.
But Greg Austin is doing something so strange with his role that it becomes something hard to look away from. His radicalized character is perhaps the most dangerous of all, as he’s so unpredictable and so hellbent on his evil path, but somehow he’s still fascinating to watch. On a show packed with remarkable talent, Austin manages to stand out.
The glaring issue for Hunters becomes that it’s initially torn between two worlds, one of exploitation and over-the-top style, and one of fascinating, moving remembrance of the pain the past holds and the rumbling vengeance of facing that pain head-on. The latter is infinitely more rewarding and is a brilliant show, but it’s mired by the former, this need to be like a distant cousin of Inglorious Basterds.
By the time there’s a boardwalk dance number and character introduction title cards in a style that would make Tarantino proud, the show feels like it’s beyond those stylistic choices, but unfortunately cannot escape them. Fortunately, over the five episodes reviewed (out of ten), that style settles down a good amount and it’s far more rare an occurrence.
But despite these issues of tonal whiplash, it does have its reasons. The lead character, Jonah, is a massive comic book fan, and so his flights of fancy do have their place, with his particular way of referencing pop culture to make sense of a particular situation.
But it does clash with the very serious, far more dramatic tale at play with legacy and seeking revenge on the evil that escaped. Perhaps it’s a form of levity when there’s so much sorrow, but it still feels out of place on an otherwise promising show.
When the show has something to say about how the pain of the Holocaust passes on through generations by way of history and the written word, Hunters leaves a mark.
Nazis in America may not be so shocking anymore, and Hunters uses this to show it’s not necessarily something new, but something that’s been brewing, even decades in the past. The show is at its best with that in mind, the fight to remember and the fight for justice. There’s a lot of great components over this first half of this season, and while some may not fit or be compatible, that greatness still resonates.
There is infinite power in the triumph of the human spirit, and Hunters holds this in its heart. The show is a love letter to the memory of those lost and those who survived, and for that, Hunters finds its staying power.
What did you think of this season of Hunters? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Hunters arrives February 21 on Amazon Prime Video.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.