Review: 2 Guns

2 Guns
Cert: 15 / 109 mins / Dir. Baltasar Kormákur



In a Summer like 2013's, it's going to be easy for a quippy action movie like 2 Guns to fall between the cracks, even if it is based on a comic. The problem is that it stars a couple of leads who, while competent, have been taking on increasingly pedestrian roles. Thankfully they've both landed a script that allows them to shine. If only them.

The movie's real strength lies in the banter and bickering between Wahlberg and Washington, and scenes where they're apart make you realise how clunky the screenplay often is. The plot is convoluted in a reassuringly straightforward*¹ way; The setup/reveal pretty much assumes you've seen the trailer, so doesn't try too hard to surprise you; and the finale seems to arrive as if suddenly realising there's only twenty minutes left to go. But there's still a lot of fun to be had, and Bill Paxton and Edward James Olmos are having a great time chewing the scenery as their respective bad-guy characters. The rest of the supporting cast phone in their roles a little, but I put that down to the roles themselves. It's not all laughs, of course, but it's surprisingly light-hearted considering the amount of shell-casings on the floor.

Oh, and a couple of the bedroom scenes with Denzel Washington and Paula Patton are so visually similar to the opening scene of Flight with Nadine Velasquez, that I'm starting to wonder if DW doesn't have this sort of thing written into his contract…

It's loud, it's funny and it's thoroughly disposable. But if you don't expect too much of 2 Guns, you might not be let down.

Yeah.



Yes.



…more than likely, yes.



It's a fun night out, but you won't lose too much by watching it at home.



A little.



Yes.



There ain't.

Which comic/graphic novel would you like to see adapted (or re-adapted) into a movie?

*¹ In other words: it twists, it turns, but it won't lose anyone.

DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• Yen's blog contains harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Reader discretion is advised.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organisations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.