Lethal Weapon actor, action star, and controversial Hollywood icon, Mel Gibson, picks up a gun in the name of justice once again for a new action thriller that reviews have hailed as a return to form for the actor in a “surprisingly effective” action-packed thriller. After being essentially “blacklisted” throughout a large chunk of the 2000s, Gibson has slowly begun to creep back into the Hollywood fold, with his return to the world of action thrillers sure to excite fans of the Payback star.
Titled Hunting Season, Gibson’s latest foray into action thrillers finds him fighting Liam Neeson for the title of “best action hero parent” after he and his daughter offer shelter to a mysterious woman. Of course, he’ll need to put his particular set of skills to good use when a drug lord comes looking for her. Beginning with MovieWeb’s own Julian Roman, Hunting Season finds Mel Gibson getting “Back to Badass Basics” in this “slow-burn” action thriller that’s well worth checking out.
“Mel Gibson returns to form, shredding ruthless baddies with a heavy dose of God, guns, cigarettes, and family values in Hunting Season. The new action thriller stars Gibson as a reclusive father protecting his teenage daughter after an act of kindness puts them in mortal peril. A slow-burn narrative takes time for rich character exposition before the bloody violence kicks into high gear. There are no surprises or plot twists, but there’s a palpable engagement factor that trumps predictability. You care about what happens to the protagonists and cheer loudly when they strike back in a barrage of bullets.”
Several critics (though not yet enough for a Rotten Tomatoes score) have heaped praise on Gibson’s performance, with The Hollywood Reporter’s Frank Scheck saying, “The actor’s charisma keeps the formulaic movie afloat, while director Collins displays a flair for action scenes,” while Aaron Peterson of The Hollywood Outsider concluding, “Mel Gibson’s steely performance, combined with Raja Collins’s slow burn direction, delivers a familiar yet surprisingly effective thriller.”
‘Hunting Season’ Is Now Available on Digital Streaming
Hunting SeasonSamuel Goldwyn Films
But it’s not all good news for Mel Gibson’s action thriller comeback, with Brian Orndorf of Blu-ray.com calling Hunting Season “an odd one, as a portion of it works on a dramatic scale, and there’s a surprising amount of viciousness in the picture, giving it some snap. But there’s hideous overacting as well.” Casey Chong of Casey’s Movie Mania, meanwhile, praised Mel Gibson’s “rugged intensity” but ultimately found Hunting Season to be a “languid action thriller.”
Directed by Raja Collins, written by Adam Hampton, and starring Sophia Hublitz, Shelly Hennig, and Jordi Molla alongside Gibson, Hunting Season has now landed in theaters and on Digital as of December 5, 2025, and you can check the official synopsis for Hunting Season below…
“When a mysterious young woman washes up on the bank of a local river, both the feisty twelve year old girl who discovers her and the overprotective father are forever changed by the arrival of this mysterious stranger into their home, and by the ruthless drug lord who will stop at nothing to kill her once and for all.”
Release Date
January 15, 2026
Runtime
93 Minutes
Director
RJ Collins
Writers
Adam Hampton
Producers
Vince Jolivette, Al Bravo, Eduard Osipov, Eric Brenner, Dan Katzman, Luke Wyckoff, David McCalib Jr.
