Ethan Hawke's Forgotten Sci-Fi Hitman Movie On Prime Video Is A Must-Watch For Action Fans

Ethan Hawke is easily one of the best and most interesting actors working today. But he's not above starring in the odd generic action thriller and even delivered a very solid effort with 2017's "24 Hours to Live," which is currently streaming over on Prime Video. The film isn't going to be remembered as one of Hawke's best projects, but it was directed by a seasoned stunt pro and is packed with top-notch action sequences.

We're living amid an Ethan Hawke renaissance, and I'm sure there's some tortured portmanteau for this one. (Just checked and we are, indeed, in the age of the "Hawkaissance.") This one's been going on for some time, however, with the actor's popularity having steadily surged since his stellar lead performance in 2017's "First Reformed." Now, when he's not starring in box office hits like "Black Phone 2" or fronting yet another critically-acclaimed drama from Richard Linklater with "Blue Moon," he's starring in FX's "The Lowdown" and probably popping up on your social media feed in one of his many surprisingly enlightening interviews.

Back in 2017, however, Hawke was in danger of heading down the Old Man Liam Neeson/late-career Jason Statham route, which basically involves churning out "John Wick" clone after "John Wick" clone. Thankfully, it seems the couple of times Hawke dipped his toe in the disposable action thriller waters were just the chameleonic star demonstrating that he really can do it all. 2013's "Getaway" was the first recognizably generic actioner in this mold to star Hawke, and it was a critical and commercial flop. (The film currently sports a wretched 4% on Rotten Tomatoes.) In 2017, however, we got "24 Hours to Live," which was a surprisingly decent "John Wick"-esque sci-fi action thriller that was a heck of a lot better than "Getaway."

"24 Hours to Live" debuted just before Paul Schrader's modern masterpiece "First Reformed," and it couldn't have been more different from that psychological thriller. The film was directed by stunt coordinator Brian Smrz, whose only other directorial effort remains the Cuba Gooding Jr./Ray Liotta-starring "Hero Wanted." Otherwise, Smrz is a prolific veteran of the stunt game, which ensured his second directorial project was packed with memorable, well-executed action sequences, even if the rest of the film wasn't exactly "First Reformed."

Guess what "24 Hours to Live" is about. Yes, Ethan Hawke stars as career assassin Travis Conrad, who's revived after being mortally wounded and given 24 hours to exact revenge on the perpetrators. The ex-special-ops marine turned hitman spends his days in Florida with his father-in-law, Frank (Rutger Hauer), before he's hired to kill a criminal only to die on the job. His agency then uses an experimental procedure to resurrect Travis so they can learn what he learned about his target. But Travis discovers his company is planning to kill him after getting the information they need, prompting the newly-revived hitman to escape and embark on a revenge mission. The only problem is, he's got a timer on his wrist that's counting down to his demise — a strange action trope of the era that should be familiar to anyone who remembers Justin Timberlake's "In Time."

Like the dour and exhausting "Extraction 2," which similarly saw a stunt performer direct, Smrz's film is full of action movie clichés. Watch both back to back, for instance, if you fancy a dead-wife-frolicking-on-the-beach flashback double feature. That said, "24 Hours to Live" excels when it comes to the action, which is, after all, the main reason to watch.

Like "John Wick," "24 Hours to Live" was directed by a stunt performer and was even produced by Thunder Road Films founder Basil Iwanyk, who bought and shopped the original "John Wick" script. That should give you a good idea of what to expect from Ethan Hawke's overlooked action thriller, which premiered at the 2017 Austin Film Festival before arriving on video-on-demand platforms later that year. All of which is to say that nobody really saw the movie, which, considering audiences' seemingly insatiable appetite for "John Wick"-style actioners in recent years, is a bit of a shame.

"24 Hours to Live" is a very solid effort from a seasoned stunt man and a charismatic star that deserves at least the same attention as Jason Statham's generic 2025 "John Wick" knockoff "A Working Man." That 58% Rotten Tomatoes score might not seem immediately enticing, but for a film of this sort, that's actually pretty good and, again, a heck of a lot better than the 4% "Getaway" managed. As Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times put it, "the mix of bullets, blood and banter is dumb fun." Over on Letterboxd, viewers seem similarly surprised by how enjoyable "24 Hours to Live" turned out to be. Most users clearly expected something entirely forgettable, but they were taken aback by how well-executed the action actually was.

So, if you fancy some "dumb fun" and are perhaps interested in seeing the action hero aspect of Hawke's expansive talents, then "24 Hours to Live" is definitely worth a watch. Again, the movie is available on Prime Video at no extra cost, but it's also on the usual rental platforms and is even on Tubi, where you can stream it for free.