2 Guns - Movie Review

"A DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer find themselves on the run after a botched attempt to infiltrate a drug cartel. While fleeing, they learn the secret of their shaky alliance: Neither knew that the other was an undercover agent."

I was going into this film more or less oblivious to everything related to it. I had seen about 30 seconds of the trailer from what I can remember, I had not looked up the synopsis or any information for the film. I simply knew that it was Baltasar Kormakur's next feature film and that we were going to be getting a Wahlberg/Washington team up.

As you would expect, this is the main aspect that the film really has going for it. But I have to say, that isn't a problem at all because it works damn well. Now the plot for 2 Guns is more or less your average action film narrative. Mixed together with a couple of minor twists and turns along the way, I can safely say that everything in relation to this department was expected by everybody prior to seeing the film. I thought the writers did a fine job of making sure that there was enough for the actors to work with in order to get the best out of them and really excel in what was otherwise a merely average film. What I can appreciate though is that they really knew their strengths. They knew that they weren't reinventing anything by creating this film but that it could be a complete fun time at the cinemas. That it certainly was as there is enough action and mayhem to shake a stick at. These sequences were well shot I have to say, which tends to be something that directors don't get the grasp of these days, at least for action sequences. How hard is it to understand that putting a camera on a tripod or at least filming these scenes by handheld well will go a long way with audiences. Less is definitely not more in this type of situation as the case sometimes becomes that you can't even tell what is going on. It's become such a popular trend nowadays because it means that it cuts some costs along the way for effects and what not, by making it seem that more is happening than actually is. I'm glad that Kormakur didn't cop out and go for the much easier option, something that I certainly appreciated with his approach to this film. The writers did a good job overall of including enough comedy and moments where the two leading men could play off one another. It made for an overly entertaining time at the cinemas as it meant that they were the centre of attention at all times which had to be the case for the film to be able to work.

Cramming in as many of these high octane sequences as possible was certainly a great choice as it really gave that sense of receiving exactly what you came for. It relates back to my praise of how the filmmakers knew exactly what the film had going for it and played to these strengths. They were on all sorts of scales, they were completely ludicrous at times and over the top and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was a solid throwback to the classic action films of the 70's, 80's and 90's. Such films as Lethal Weapon had clearly had a major influence for 2 Guns and it was nice to see a similar format for today's generation done right. It knew that it didn't take itself seriously at times, and was able to do its number one purpose: entertain. It had many moments that did take me back to watching Lethal Weapon for the first time and many of this was implemented into the wacky action sequences that took place. Random explosions, over the top fighting and action and comic relief, I was a huge fan of it all.

What I will have to comment on which I can quite wrap my head around whether I liked it or not was the tonal shifts the film had. One minute we would be laughing and joking in a scene and the next we were supposed to be taking everything serious and feeling sympathy for characters that hadn't received much of a background or depth. I'm fine with a film going for the more serious moments even when it is supposed to be taken as a summer popcorn flick and nothing more, but for me this just didn't work. It was setting itself up to be an absolute blast and then it would completely shift to wanting to evoke an emotional response which felt like the wrong approach.

I didn't let this hinder my enjoyment too much as the real stars of the show here (literally) are the on screen duo of Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington. As previously mentioned and as you'll already know, these were the main attraction to what otherwise was a very generic action movie and they knock it out of the park. Solid performances from these two yet again as you would fully expect, they were what made this film as enjoyable as it was. As I said to someone when I left the screening, I simply felt that the film for me at least, wouldn't have worked had it not been for these two. I would not have been as interested or had as good of a time had it not been for these two just chewing up the scenery at every possible chance. Everything from the delivery of their lines to facial expressions was perfect for what the film wanted to be and it worked on every level in my opinion. As for other members of the cast, Bill Paxton was yet another great addition. His role as one of the villains yet again felt like another homage to previous action films as an outrageously unfeasible villain was thrust into what was set up to be this somewhat realistic setting. Whenever he was on screen, he made it feel like there was something on the line for these two characters and that he posed a real threat. It gave the film some lee way to be able to try and throw more elements of the story in there which can never hurt for a film like this. James Marsden was good too as usual and offers quite an unusual role to anything that I've certainly seen him in before which was a nice surprise.

Overall, 2 Guns was somewhat of a surprise for me in general, despite going in more or less blind about the film, I had my suspicions as I had a vague idea of the plot and it could have easily failed. This wasn't the case as it stuck to what it knew it had to in order to be able to hit the right notes. The leading men in Wahlberg and Washington really helped this film excel as expected and were the main reason that I had such a blast while watching this film. Had it not been for them, I know for a fact that I wouldn't have liked it anywhere near as much. Heck, I may not have even liked it at all. Luckily, the filmmakers utilized what they had to work with and for me, it certainly paid off.