I am – Hercules!!


It’s an eight-hour miniseries -- from writer-producer James DeMonaco (“Jack,” “The Negotiator,” “Skinwalkers”) -- about a group of Iraq vets who try to rob a Pittsburgh bank but end up holed up inside with hostages aplenty. It stars John Leguizamo as the hostage-taker and Donnie Wahlberg as the negotiator.

A few reviewers find themselves referencing “The Nine,” ABC’s short-lived bank-hostage drama from last fall:

TV Guide gives it a “9” (out of 10) and says:

… this tough, unusually well-cast eight-hour "event" series is an instantly gripping winner. …

USA Today gives it three and a half stars (out of four) and says:

… There are aspects of the two-hour premiere that go awry — Wolf's big crowd-rousing speech chief among them — and twists that hint at possible audience roadblocks to come. (Must every such story build in a conflict between local cops and the FBI?) Overall, though, Kill Point gets off to a strong start with a tense outing driven along by two strong, combative performances.…

Entertainment Weekly gives it a “B” says:

… Tonight's launch offers nicely paced tension and lots of hints about future revelations. …

The New York Times says:

… This eight-part series on Spike TV, which begins on Sunday night, borrows so many images and plot points from classic guy films, everything from “Die Hard” to “Dog Day Afternoon,” that “The Kill Point” is its own inside job, a greatest-heists collection. And yet despite all these recycled moments, or perhaps even because of them, “The Kill Point” is quite enjoyable, gripping and predictable in equal parts, almost a mercifully abbreviated “24.” …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… not going to change the world. Not even your own small world. It's a genre piece: "crime," subset "hostage situation." But (to judge by the first two of those eight hours, which air Sunday night) its occasional small failings are the shallowest potholes in what is a fundamentally smooth track, in which unpredictable twists and blind hairpin turns give way to straightaways made for speed. It's the sort of thing that gives popular entertainment a good name. …

The Washington Post says:

… while not flawless, is on the right track to being something special. …

The Boston Herald says:

… You can practically taste the cliches. “Kill Point” is also edgy, action-packed and an adrenaline rush, a welcome relief from the game shows drowning the airwaves on the commercial networks. Judging from the first two hours, it’s the closest thing to “24” any network has produced. …

The Boston Globe says:

... familiarity doesn't always breed boredom when the pace is as brisk and the cat-and-mouse play is as tricky as it is here. … I fear for viewers of the subsequent episodes, as the claustrophobia of the bank sinks in and the negotiations begin to spin circles around one another. By the end of tomorrow's presentation, tedium is already beginning to rear its head. …

Variety says:

… the two-hour premiere of "The Kill Point" exhibits considerable promise -- a taut if invariably familiar standoff, with John Leguizamo clearly savoring his big "Attica!" moments and Donnie Wahlberg as the steely negotiator trying to talk him down. … Admittedly, there's not much fresh in the debut, and one wishes Leguizamo's character had a less cliched backstory than that of a disgruntled Iraq war veteran (after years of Vietnam vets fulfilling a similar role) lashing out against the system. That said, the performances are generally sharp (the broad cast notably includes two alums of "The Wire," JD Williams and Michael K. Williams), and Leguizamo's exchanges with Wahlberg -- cast in yet another steely cop role -- have a rugged edge. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

... Some of what's in "The Kill Point" looks familiar, but there are enough new twists to keep this eight-hour series feeling fresh and suspenseful. At the same time, casting John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg to play characters on opposite ends of a botched bank robbery turns this series into a riveting game of chess, with hostages as real-life pawns. …

9 p.m. Sunday. Spike.

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