At the Theater - "2 Guns" - This is a modestly-budgeted, Buddy Cop action vehicle (based on a graphic novel series from BOOM! Studios) that tries to please too many audiences at once, dancing around in different tones and often wobbling on the tightrope of believability. In regards to the narrative, there's too much here that I've seen before that's been assembled in a more confident manner- it's the effective chemistry and witty banter between the 2 leads that absolutely carries the film. Denzel Washington (Man On Fire) is once again rock solid while I was bowled over to find Mark Wahlberg (Ted) at his most charismatic. Director Baltasar Kormakur and co-star Wahlberg's previous collaboration, 2012's Contraband, was a bit of a mess- I went into this film with low expectations and ended up pleasantly surprised.
Working undercover for different agencies of the law (unbeknownst to each other in the early going), Denzel Washington's DEA Agent "Robert Trench" and Mark Wahlberg's Naval Intelligence Officer "Michael Stigman" find themselves having to evade a number of villainous sorts from various shady organizations after a fumbled attempt to bring down a Mexican Drug Cartel. Audiences can expect a couple of car chases, a handful of gun battles and a few explosions (all very well filmed) to satisfy the action crowd, though the movie is at it's most entertaining while the two leads are bickering or playing off of one another in simple situations- the dialogue is often sharp in this regard while the performances are top notch. Although I've never been much of a fan of Wahlberg's (I am a fan of Washington), I'd actually like to see these two work together again. Naturally, that all comes down to box office, though.
Paula Patton (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol) pops up a handful of times as a way too sexy DEA Agent and love interest for Trench- some of her expressions just don't match the onscreen proceedings, but I ain't mad at her. Her character's "departure" from the story doesn't make a damned lick of sense when you spend more than one second attempting to apply reasoning to the matter.
Edward James Olmos (TV's Miami Vice) utilizes some extensive, and welcomed, screen-time as the head of a Mexican Cartel while Bill Paxton (Aliens) never really hits his stride as a sadistic, southern fried CIA agent- the latter comes across as more generic than anything.
James Marsden (X-Men) seems miscast as a crooked Naval Officer while audiences have seen Robert John Burke (Safe) play ever-so-slightly different variations of the same stock FED Agent/Cop countless times before. Fred Ward (Tremors), a personal favorite of mine, is absolutely wasted in a pointless role as a contemptuous Admiral.
The climactic gun battle, complete with super-slow motion footage of our heroes back to back and blasting away at bad guys as burning one hundred dollar bills rain down around them, starts off promisingly strong but is disappointingly standard in it's resolution. There's some legitimately funny moments and dialogue mixed in with some rather jarring brutality- although 2 Guns gets the job done, it doesn't always make sense and there's very little that's new or original featured therein. Check it out in theaters only if you're a fan of either of the the two headliners and/or you're interested in seeing Paula Patton prancing around in nothing but panties- otherwise, it's a strong rental.
7.5 out of 10
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