Hot Seat (2022) User Reviews (73)

Oh, Mel Gibson...

[trinaboice · 4/10 · 18 July 2022]

IN A NUTSHELL: The low-budget cyber-thriller is directed and produced by James Cullen Bressack. The movie is based on a story by Leon Langford and Collin Watts.

THINGS I LIKED: Mel Gibson's involvement in this movie is why most people will be intrigued. He's always a pleasant addition, and he certainly elevates the stature of this movie. I've been a fan for years. He even has some funny lines in the movie to add some comic relief.

Other cast members include Kevin Dillon, Michael Welch, Sam Asghari, and Eddie Steeples. I really enjoyed seeing Shannen Doherty too, especially since she has been going through cancer treatments. I thought she did a good, believable job, and I wish her health and happiness.

I've always liked single-location movies.

Fun fact #1: They shot the movie in only 7 days.

Fun fact #2: Kevin Dillon admits he's terrible with computers and that they had an IT expert on set who was available to answer questions.

It's hard to think watching a man typing on a computer frantically would actually be interesting or cause enough tension and suspense, but it works well at times.

Sleight of hand is mentioned early in the story and then demonstrated in several ways in the plot. The plot features a mystery of who the bad guy is.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE: Unfortunately, the movie doesn't fully utilize the talented Mel Gibson. Like Bruce Willis and Liam Neeson, I worry that more and more of these movie stars who were hot in the 80's, and '90s are now just cashing their name in for small roles in mediocre movies.

There are quite a few bad acting moments. Most of that can be contributed to a cliched script.

The granny voice sounded like a cartoon voice.

A lot of details are wrong or missing.

People's reactions to events seem off. For example, if you were on a morning jog and saw a bomb go off near your neighborhood, would you just shrug and keep going? Would you still go to work if it were your day off and your daughter's birthday? There didn't seem to be urgency for him to actually be in the office.

Very little character development.

TIPS FOR PARENTS: Profanity, including F-bombs Some bloody violence Weapons of various kinds Explosions People die.

THEMES: Family Workplace honesty Computer hacking skills Co-workers

YouTube channel.

It's good for a laugh.

[ramfat · 4/10 · 1 July 2022]

I don't think this movie was intended to be a comedy, but it is certainly laughable. Low budget, bad edits, goofy dialog, and the most cheesy one-liners I've heard in a while. I had to keep watching to see how bad it could get.

It's finished oh good

[pagettsgadgets · 3/10 · 2 July 2022]

A hacker that can crack all passwords in seconds. Mel Gibson the ex vet. The bomb disposal expert and a chief cop.

We start in an office with the super hacker who has a bomb under his chair which will go bang unless he hacks into the bank, he does and the police turn up. Anyway 90 minutes of hell later, it's his colleague and mate who's responsible for the bombs etc.

Really you wonder why some top actors sign up for such rubbish, but guess it's the money.

Wow

[chariff16 · 2/10 · 3 July 2022]

What amateur movie, i don't recommend this movie to anyone, no good lines, no good story, no good Cinematography, i mean even YouTube content creators can do better, what make it worst is that they have big actors.

What a joke.

Can't write anything good about this

[imdb-23821 · 2/10 · 5 July 2022]

I give this film 2 stars for getting enough money or blackmail to compel some name actors into doing this film. I wonder if Britney Spears paid so she could cast her boyfriend, now husband, in this film. As someone else says, he laughingly acts his ass off, showing how much "chops" he has as an actor so he can be the most memorable, useless character of all with just a few minutes screen time. A dull tool.

That about explains this movie about a hacker, which has a story that couldn't even be sold 20 years ago to seniors who know almost nothing about computers and hacking. I couldn't stop laughing when Mel Gibson tries to sell something about a "DOS attack" as if it mmakes much sense in the context of this loser. Kevin Dillon, who has done some decent work, is given the hopeless task of carrying this film along with Gibson, who comes in from time to time to provide the cop shtick and he does what he can to try to sound credible. It works about half the time, the rest he's almost dialed in, brain gain. Shannon Doherty barely shows, barks orders like the police captain she is, perhaps just trying to remain relevant in film while she has unfortunately gone through her own health hell.

In the end, the villain is a laughable, non-stop babbling buffoon. If you're not watching this on a streaming where you can skip parts, you'll be in constant pain as there is little reason to want to stay for the journey since it's completely unconvincing. This is "bad Bruce Willis movie" level bad. Perhaps they needed the money. Owed a favor. I don't know but those must have been some really awful pictures the director and writers must have on the stars in this film.

My eyes bled

[grey-30230 · 1/10 · 4 July 2022]

If you want to die a slow and painful death, watch this movie.

Sam Asghari, a complete nobody, acts so hard that it's no wonder after 6 years of being linked to the legendary Britney Spears he's still a nobody. Buddy, give it up. You're not cut to be an actor. You suck the life out of every film or TV show you're in.

Had a chance to be good, with a better filmmaker.

[Top_Dawg_Critic · 4/10 · 18 July 2022]

Even with his resume full of filmmaking experience, director James Cullen Bressack still keeps giving us amateur C grade boring films. Once again he failed to direct his cast properly, especially Doherty. Only Gibson and Dillon (barely) held their own without cast direction. Then Bressack just kept giving us long dragged out and mostly unnecessary scenes. The writing by Leon Langford and Collin Watts was cliched, stale, inept, predictable and boring, especially making the normally comfortable 99 min film feel much longer with the slow pacing and constant computer screen garble. Don't get me started on the plot and technical issues that riddled this mess. You will lose your patience waiting for the ending credits that offer zero reward. It's a very generous 4/10 from me, mostly for the pity that Dillion and Gibson had to endure to get through this one.

A watchable, but generic and predictable thriller...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 30 July 2022]

Sitting down to watch the 2022 thriller "Hot Seat" from writers Leon Langford and Collin Watts, I must admit that I wasn't really harboring much of any high expectations for the movie. Sure, I thought that there could be some worth to the movie, as it had Mel Gibson and Kevin Dillon on the cast list, but the synopsis just wasn't sounding all that interesting. But alas, I opted to watch the movie and see what director James Cullen Bressack had to offer with "Hot Seat".

Sure, the movie was watchable, although it wasn't by any means an outstanding thriller. The storyline was adequate enough, though it offers nothing really that haven't been done or seen before, and thus the movie is suitable only for a single viewing. And the storyline was a tad too predictable and generic for my liking.

The acting performances in "Hot Seat" were adequate. I mean, Kevin Dillon did an okay job in the leading role, though I had expected it to be Mel Gibson in the lead, as he is a more established actor and have bigger movie titles to his name. The movie also had Eddie Steeples and Shannen Doherty on the cast list, though in minor support roles only. It was a shame really that Eddie Steeples wasn't given more time on the screen.

If you are an avid fan of the thriller genre, then you might get a bigger kick out of "Hot Seat" than I did.

My rating of "Hot Seat" lands on a five out of ten stars.

The best seat in the house......

[FlashCallahan · 6/10 · 18 July 2022]

Friar is a former hacker and IT expert who finds a hair-trigger bomb strapped to his desk chair.

An unseen hacker orders him to steal digital funds online -- or have his daughter abducted. As a fearless bomb expert that looks like Mel Gibsons dad arrives on the scene, the hacker frames Friar as the bomber.

The tension mounts as Friar races to clear his name and expose the real terrorist without getting himself blown......................up.

What is it with Kevin (not as successful as Matt) Dillon? All of a sudden he has come out of nowhere and seized the straight to Blu Ray crowd in one full swoop.

And despite the bad reviews this film is getting, it's pretty good to be fair.... Think Phone Booth in a chair.......it's pretty good stuff.

So Dillon has to hack all wonders of locks and firewalls, and if he moves from the chair, or too far away from the monitor, he goes with a bang.

Add Mel Gibson to the mix, and it's really good to watch. Gibson has starred in a slew of straight to Blu ray releases just of late, and he still shows what a great actor he is, putting his all into a glorified extended cameo. Think all you want about his private life, which you really shouldn't, he really elevates a film when he is on screen.

The last third falls apart at the end, as the hacker is revealed, and the rationale is pretty stupid to be honest.

But then again, we are watching a film about an exploding chair, so who am i to moan about it.....

Disaster of a movie

[dragan2280 · 1/10 · 18 August 2022]

I can't believe that an Oscar winner agreed to act in this garbage of a movie. Too bad there is no zero on the voting scale! Acting and production as if from third-rate Indian movies. I don't remember seeing a worse movie in a long time :(

A cinematic way

[sydmwswy · 9/10 · 18 March 2023]

Obviously, it is not as polished as the movie "Fortress 2021" and it does not have the softness of that movie, but this Bressack movie is a compressed and logical version of the series that seeks to add some apparent depth to the core of its superficial subject,.at the same time a Little or no effort has been made to sub-category characters. And we also needed more clues. Why doesn't the hero's wife show his message to the agents in the first encounter? If it seems very natural. Talking about perison was thinkable. And honestly I haven't seen such a performance from Mr Gibson in a long time. There's is really moments in the film that you want to continue . Contrary To some other parts. Not bad at all.( You can ad 1374 and 1579 to my username to access my Instagram accounts)

Johnny Drama did good

[cparmisan · 6/10 · 4 July 2022]

Although the story was not new it was not very predictable. The production was of low budget and was evident by the lesser known actors performances. However Kevin ,Mel, Shannen & Eddie's acting chops was enough to keep me entertained for most of the show.

I am sure the entourage will agree that Johnny Drama did good.

I expected more, but...

[opticuscro · 5/10 · 30 August 2022]

Interesting plot of the film, it is tense. The acting is quite cold and theatrical, but ok, it's not that bad, unlike the others, Mel G. Did it superbly as always. The story is tense and interesting in parts, the recording and sound are nothing special, let's say it's a passing grade. Some characters (secondary characters) are quite generic, so it's not fun at all. The action is actually interesting and does not go too fast or too slow, it just goes as it should. My overall impression is that I am actually negatively surprised because when Mel Gibson is in the movie, I expect much more from the movie. All in all this is just a mediocre time killer.

ok, but not great

[fredperry492 · 3/10 · 3 September 2022]

You would think a film with Mel Gibson in it would be up there somewhere in the ratings, but this film was just not that great.

I watched it because Gibson was in it and I am sure many others will to. I wonder sometimes if big names lend themselves to lower end films to help them out. It got me to watch it, so I guess it worked.

Some of the acting was bad. The plot was ok, I guess. Best way to describe it... low budget film that lives up to every expectation of a low budget film. I try hard not to low ball ratings, but you just can't up mark this from a 3/10. If you're the kind of person who can watch anything (like me), then give it a go. If you're a hard to please film watcher, give it a miss.

Can't believe how crap this film was...

[contactmaz · 2/10 · 3 August 2022]

Acting bad... even worse than Bruce Willis and Nicolas Cage...

Script was a load of garbage and a totally unreal plot that could never happen...

And where did they get the girl from? Oh yea, and that dumb-looking, low IQ gung-ho cop!!!???

Can't believe I watched it to the end? Feel bad about it and even after 3 days, I can't get over having watched it so... perhaps I'm getting some sort of closure by reviewing it and saving some other poor soul from watching it!

It Desperately Wants to be "Speed" in a Seat

[PlotThicc · 1/10 · 3 July 2022]

Fade in: the camera follows pedestrians on their morning commute. You know what's about to happen at any minute. There's no suspense. A bomb detonates sending pedestrians flying in the air from the explosion. One of the victims does a triple axel spin into the frame and it's one of the worst choreographed stunts I've ever seen in a film.

That's when I knew, this film was not serious.

Plot Thicc

Hot Seat is a cyber thriller about an ex-hacker who's framed for hacking banks and transferring money into his account and into the account of an unknown man who's wired the hacker's seat with explosives to ensure his demands are met.

Kevin Dillon plays a miscreant hacker turned IT specialist who helps customers troubleshoot computer issues. (The customer he helps sounds like Kitboga using his classic old lady voice). It's unintentionally funny.

He gets called in to work on this particular day (that also happens to be his daughter's birthday). Kev is forced to hack banking institutions and digitally siphon millions of dollars and transfer to an unknown bank robber who's wired his desk seat with a bomb. If he even tries to get out of this seat, it explodes like the morning street bomb.

This robber (a culprit who's obvious immediately) speaks to Kevin through an intercom and security camera. He uses Kevin's past computer crimes and uses it to his advantage. He also has eyes on Kevin's wife and daughter, so he's left no choice but to comply.

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson plays a bomb expert, 30 years past his prime. Since the first transfer is to Kevin's bank, he suspects that Kevin is doing this on his own volition and has snipers outside on the roof waiting for the perfect shot.

Mel must sneak into this building, undetected, to deactivate the bomb and try to save any civilians.

This film wants so badly to be SPEED and DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE, but it fails miserably.

Shannon Doherty plays Mel's captain. She's given nothing to do in this film. She chews gum, which is a prop to make her seem threatening and bureaucratic. All she does is stand by, gripping her.2-way radio, waiting for her team to fill her in.

Sam Ashgari plays Kevin's coworker who conveniently ordered lunch for breakfast,. But when his order gets mixed up, he leaves to get it fixed. You can guess what part he plays in all this.

The dialogue in this film is so camp. The action sequences are so weak.

Kevin Dillon sounds like Johnny Drama.

Mel Gibson maintains one facial expression the entire movie.

Shannon Doherty looks bored in every scene.

Sam Ashgari gives it away immediately.

This is one of the worst films of the year.

Why, Mel, why?!

[ivanmessimilos · 3/10 · 21 August 2022]

Why Mel Gibson took part in this film at all is beyond me. The movie has a lot of flaws and is bad. I laughed several times when I shouldn't have, and when I should have, I didn't. That says a lot. It's a shame because the movie could have been much, much better, it has potential considering the plot.

Entertaining and captivating

[martinjp-27642 · 7/10 · 27 November 2023]

This is one of those movies that should have a higher rating. It delivers on most of the areas that matter for a movie within this genre. Solid idea, great build-up and tension, nice pacing, and convincing performances by Dillon, Gibson, and Welch.

In my opinion, a movie like this is much more exciting than the "bigger" movies Hollywood puts out. There's nothing pretentious about it; instead it delivers the excitement that kept me watching and rewatching it.

The movie could have had a better intro, which fails to deliver the tension that I think the rest of the movie has.

There could have been more explanations about what exactly Dillon is doing at his computer.

Also, we could have seen Gibson doing something a little more technical and complicated.

But overall, a solid action/thriller, which exceeded my expectations.

Awful

[ctufan24 · 2/10 · 8 July 2022]

So much bad writing & dialogue such as: Mel Gibsons character is part of a bomb squad yet inside of the "bomb truck" is an ambulance, the daughter recognizing her dads office friend whos dressed as a cop?!.. couldn't put 2&2 together that something is off, the villain can hack the guy he's going to use to do all the hacking but can't hack the money he wants?!?! A sniper misfires on who the police at the time are led to believe is the shooter and he just blows it off like its nothing?!

Good Mel Gibson

[elbakkalisimo · 10/10 · 1 July 2022]

Even if it's from the B series, it's well done and entertaining and a good performance by Mel Gibson who is always in line and up to the task and funny. A recommended movie with good moments and good cating.

Why so many bad reviews? What do people exactly expects from a movie nowadays?

[agachemihnea · 6/10 · 20 October 2022]

This movie, despite being low budget or straight to DVD or whatever, is actually pretty tense and enjoyable with some popcorn or pizza and a drink. I wasn't bored at all, it was a good watch on a Thursday night from my week off. Just watch it, if you like to see a movie to relax.

Now, what is with movie viewers from this age? They think that every movie has to be smart? That a movie has to charm them, to raise their IQ-s? Did we actually forget to watch a movie for the sake of fun and chill? All of us have to comment about every damn thing like we are some kind of movie experts? Get over yourself, people!

Even 3.8 stars average is too high for this trash

[publicemaildump · 1/10 · 6 July 2022]

Even 3.8 stars average is too high for this trash, so I will bring the average down with my one-star.

Movies like these are meant to be made as a gag, shown once to your close circle of enemies, and then the movie project deleted from your computer. Why waste thousands of hours of people's time with such trash??? Even YT has better content these days...

I watched it while I'm having Covid

[jredy · 1/10 · 4 July 2022]

I watched it while I'm having Covid ... Covid is more forgiving than this movie .

The movie is disappointed on every aspect..Im wondering why would a legend likeel Gibson accept such a weak role in a weak movie to get some cash .

In the sniper scene at least bring more like a real Sniper to the set ....that Rifle looks fake from 10 miles away.

Not so good to me

[peet84 · 3/10 · 20 August 2022]

The acting is so bad The dialogue is terrible The hacking and computer terms are wrong

Even the story is very shallow

It could be executed way better Total waste of time.

Awful..

[neverndingst0ry · 1/10 · 5 July 2022]

I love and adore Shannen Doherty and she's a wonderful actress. Too bad for her because the movie was awful.

Some of the cast had a harder time acting and they weren't really that believable... specifically the guy who played Seargant Tobias. As someone else says, it was an unintentional comedy in my opinion. If that's what you like, maybe you'll enjoy it.

Nice try though..