“Hudson Hawk” was a big flop when it was released and it’s still bad to this day. Here we have a movie that doesn’t know if it’s a spoof or a legitimate action/adventure and as a result feels like a tug-of-war game.

In “Hudson Hawk”, a cat-burglar nicknamed Hudson Hawk (Bruce Willis “Die Hard”, “The Fifth Element”) has just been released from prison and he wants to go straight but unfortunately for him he’s forced into a job that’ll take him to Europe as the eccentric and evil Darwin Mayflower (Richard E. Grant “Dracula”, “Spice World”) intends to use one of Da Vinci’s machines to make money worthless.

You know the filmmakers have misused Bruce Willis when we see him singing instead of using a watch as he steals. The Hudson Hawk character lacks the personality of John McClane from the “Die Hard” franchise (which Willis was perfectly suited for) and ends up being another bland action character. The villains are really weak. We have this rich fruitcake played over the top by Richard E. Grant and we have James Coburn playing a whacky and rogue government agent. The girl is an undercover nun played mediocrely by Andie MacDowell (“Groundhog Day”).

“Hudson Hawk” is a turkey despite the fact parts of it are entertaining and we do get a sense the filmmakers were having fun doing the film a whole is a mess. This is a film where the filmmakers simply wanted to make it and no one was there to control them. As I was watching the picture, I got a feeling that the script was being written as production went on and that’s not a good sign in my view. Sure, there are a few chuckles and sure there are a few good action parts but the majority of the film is so confusing even the characters don’t have a clue what’s going on. Is it a mockery of action films? Or is it the real thing? I don’t think anybody is sure.