2 GUNS – The Review

Review by Michael Haffner

With all the dynamic duos that have graced the screen over the years, it’s kind of shocking that it has taken this long for Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington to team-up. Especially considering the fact that both actors often juggle many of the same types of roles. An equal amount of time is given in their respective careers to more serious and dramatic fare with interludes of action intertwined. Wahlberg will do a film like the action-comedy THE OTHER GUYS and follow it up with a more serious award contender like THE FIGHTER; much earlier he did the same with BOOGIE NIGHTS followed by THE BIG HIT (which was anything but). Washington also will do films like THE HURRICANE and FLIGHT but pepper in some more fun and explosive roles with MAN ON FIRE and OUT OF TIME. Some action fans might even be shocked if you were to tell them the two stars haven’t played opposite one another before. However, 2 GUNS marks their first team-up and the results could not be any more refreshing in a summer full of large robots and CGI-filled battles. There’s simply two guys at the top of their game, having fun, and blurring the line between bad and good. Sometimes summer’s real treats sneak in after all the smoke is cleared. As with the actors on-screen meeting: better late than never.

After a quick intro that calls to mind the snappy diner opening of PULP FICTION, the film rewinds to two weeks earlier when Wahlberg’s Stig and Washington’s Bobby are on their way to meet up with the leader of a notorious Mexican drug cartel that goes by the name Papi. An exchange of forged passports for cocaine doesn’t go as planned leaving the duo to leave without the drugs they were promised. This results in both criminal runners to retreat to their separate leaders to break the bad news. Unbeknownst to either of them, the one is working for the DEA while the other works for the US Navy. A new plan to rob the supposed bank the cartel deposits cash to is complicated when a simple $3 million heist turns into a $43 million dilemma that sends everyone running after the cash.

If you can get past the mindless and uninspiring image used for the poster and trailers of the macho duo back to back baring guns in a shower of money– Tony Scott would have loved that shot – you will be treated to a much more intelligent film than its core audience ever asked for. 2 GUNS embodies more the twists and turns of a thrilling Elmore Leonard page-turner than the redundant buddy cop formula the marketing department seems intent on pushing. Yes, you do get your fare share of bickering with fits of action thrown in for good measure, but the film sets itself apart due to a clever script that injects the right amount of character, comedy, and explosions, while taking great strides to keep you guessing who’s going to turn on who. Not to mention, it doesn’t shy away from getting a little political. Corruption and greed are two of the main villains in this story filled with more criminals than a prison line-up, and writer Blake Masters doesn’t shy away from showing that our own government might be the culprits in his astute adaptation of Steven Grant’s graphic novels. I’m not familiar with the source material and its approach to violence, but once again, the film takes no shame in earning its R rating with a little bloodshed and even some nudity. Keep in mind, outside of the aforementioned slow-motion money shot, the violence is never over-the-top and is refreshingly very matter of fact and quick. You won’t see cartoonish blood squirting at the audience. Blatasar Kormakurs who previously directed Wahlberg in CONTRABAND delivers a more fun follow-up compared to his overly serious previous outing. What could have easily been a run-away train of plot twists and action set pieces is dialed back in order to remain focused on the characters at hand.

Many will be quick to note the variety of talent that’s on hand to fill this cast of liars and cheats. Outside of the two leads, you have Edward James Olmos, James Marsden, Paula Patton, Fred Ward, and even Bill Paxton – who plays a man on a mission to track down the two leads and the missing cash. Paxton plays the part a little too on the nose for his own good but seems to be having a ball as a sadistic and flamboyant Southern gentleman. On the brightside, it is his approach to the character mixed with the desert landscapes that leans the film a little in the direction of a classic western. On the surface, 2 GUNS shares many similarities to a few gun-slinging classics. Take for example THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY. Sergio Leone’s masterpiece features three characters all on a hunt for one large cache of gold. You have the same set-up with 2 GUNS if you replace the gold with $43 million in cash. And what’s a great western without a shoot-out on a ranch? 2 GUNS doesn’t disappoint here either as the bullets mercilessly fly until all comes to a stop for one final standoff. By all accounts, Kormakurs is well versed in action cinema and is fully aware he isn’t reinventing the wheel, but he has succeeded in delivering a film that rests comfortably between the classic western and buddy-cop comedy genres.

Earlier this year audiences we were treated to THE HEAT, which proved to be more buddy-comedy than an accurate throwback to the 80’s and 90’s buddy-cop film. Yes, the two actresses displayed a talent for comedy as they constantly poked fun at one another, but the fact that they were cops played second-fiddle (if not third or fourth) to vulgar and crude humor; for all I know, McCarthy and Bullock could have been lawyers or janitors and their language and dialogue would have still produced laughs. 2 GUNS is a much more successful attempt at rekindling those lost nights spent watching your overplayed VHS tapes of TANGO & CASH and LETHAL WEAPON. However, 2 GUNS has a secret weapon working in its favor and that is a twist and turn-filled story that never lets you fully know whom you can trust and who might be the real villain. Well, in all honesty, they are all villains and liars and cheats. Deep down, no one from this motley crew should be the winner, and yet you find yourself rooting for them anyway and getting sucked into their dirty world. In a summer full of superheroes and good guys (and girls) saving the world, who needs to be saved when hanging out with the outcasts is the most fun you will have all summer.

4 of 5 Stars