Apex is an ironic title for something that feels more like a nadir. This is not only the latest but also the dumbest version of the Most Dangerous Game plot, wherein the would-be hunters spend more time hunting each other while their supposed prey sits idly by watching them kill each other. As for the prey himself, the film offers two contradictory narratives, with the character inhabiting a limbo somewhere in between.
On the one hand, Thomas Ernest Malone (Willis), aka The Mutilator, has been convicted of assault, fraud, wire fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion, computer crime, robbery, arson, kidnapping, possession of illegal firearms, manslaughter and “criminal activity”. Criminal activity? What’s all the other stuff, then? Hobbies? (comically, both IMDb and All Movie speak of "a crime he didn't commit").
Furthermore, Malone — who “became addicted to gambling and lost custody of his children,” which makes it sound like he bet his offspring on a losing hand — has “active warrants in 47 states” (even though he’s already in prison), and his sentence is "life imprisonment without parole/117 years." Huh?
On the other hand, we’re shown a long list of serious injuries and medical problems including "two synthetic liver transplants" (the movie is set 20 Minutes into the Future) and "more than 60 concussions." Finally, his date of birth “cannot be authenticated”; i.e., the character must be as old as Willis himself.
This kind of cognitive dissonance reminds me of Demolition Man. In that film, Wesley Snipes can't hide his excitement at the prospect of having Jeffrey Dahmer among his henchmen, unaware that Dahmer would be totally useless in hand-to-hand combat with Sly Stallone.
Similarly, it can't be very amusing or challenging to hunt down a battered old man that even the NFL wouldn't clear to play. Sure, Malone may be "the toughest prey" they've ever faced, and "The universe just doesn't seem capable of killing him," but in that case, wouldn't it be quicker and easier to just tie him up, hang him upside down, and club him to death like a piñata?
But as I noted above, Malone is essentially a bystander in his own movie — or maybe he’s supposed to be his character from Unbreakable, which would at least explain his otherworldly resilience.
