Bullet to the Head

ACTION/ADVENTURE, SUSPENSE/THRILLER

Revenge Never Gets Old

★ ★ ★ ★ out of 5 | Movie - DVD

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Rated: R Strong violence, bloody images, language, some nudity and brief drug use.
Release Date: February 1, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes

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Director: Walter Hill
Writers: Alessandro Camon, based on the graphic novel "Du plomb dans la tete" by Alexis Nolent
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jason Momoa, Jon Seda, Holt McCallany, Brian Van Holt, Weronika Rosati, Dane Rhodes, Marcus Lyle Brown, Andrew Austin-Peterson

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SYNOPSIS:  After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hitman and a Washington D.C. detective form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy.

REVIEW: Walter Hill, director of the cult classic The Warriors, has also directed another massive action star of the 1980s and 90s - Arnold Schwarnegger in the 1988 Red Heat. Now its Sylvester Stallone's turn to be under Hill's tutelage as a character that Sly is very familiar with - a hitman. Bullet to the Head is based on a screenplay by Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) from the graphic novel "Du plomb dans la tête" by Alexis Nolent.

James Bonomo a.k.a. Jimmy Bobo (Sylvester Stallone, The Expendables 2) and his associate Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda, Larry Crowne) to hotel to take on a contract hit against a former cop Hank Greely (Holt McCallany, The Losers) filling himself with booze and drugs. After the success of the assassination Bobo and Louis go to a bar to get paid. While Jimmy is in the restroom Louis is approached and killed by a professional muscular assailant. Then the powerful ponytailed man attacks Jimmy ho barely escapes. Enter Washington DC Detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang, Fast Five) in pursuit of the man who killed Greely. When he sees Louis' body in the morgue with Greely, Kwon puts together that this local hitman had something do with the contract to kill Greely. Hunting down Jimmy,  a known associate of Louis, Detective Qwon asks Jimmy to work together to bring down the bigger fish - the unknown men who actually contracted the Greely and Blanchard hits. When Detective Kwon is attacked, Jimmy steps in and decides that maybe this is a bigger deal than he thought. Although reluctant to work together - with completely different moral codes - the Detective and Jimmy start investigating and moving up the ladder to who actually contracted the hits. Using their own methods, they realize the hits were just one component of a much bigger scheme reaching all levels of government officials, cops, and more. Even with Kwon and Jimmy working together, their combined talents may still not be enough to prevail against what lies in front of them.

Sylvester Stallone doesn't look like he has lost any step at all in his action film career. With the recent success The Expendables and The Expendables 2, Stallone has continued to reinvent his career as a top grossing action hero. While Arnold Schwarzenegger took too much time off for politics before returning for the aptly named The Last Stand, Stallone has managed to keep it all together and looking like he can still kick some serious ass. Regardless of how many shot were fired or how the fight scenes were choreographed, Stallone still looks ripped and ready to go. At this pace, Stallone will continue to rake in box office profits for a few more years to come. Stallone uses his strength - literally and figuratively - to make the best action flicks possible.

Jimmy Bonomo is just what you would expect from Stallone. The character is a sarcastic wise ass ready to back up every word he utters. Add in gunfire, some crazy close quarters combat, and some clichéd dialogue, and you have all the best elements needed for a completely enjoyable action popcorn movie. Kang's Kwon gets some good fight work in too, but he seems a little outmatched by the presence of Stallone's Jimmy.

As with every good action hero movie or superhero movie the protagonist is only as good as his villains. In Bullet to the Head we are treated to three bad guys. That doesn't mean that Stallone's Jimmy and Kang's Kwon are outmatched because they're outnumbered. What it does mean is that the bad guys just have more firepower and manpower. The lead boss man is former exiled South African Robert Nkomo Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, The Thing) looking to make money in real estate no matter what. At his side is a weasel in fox's clothing in the guise of Marcus Baptiste (Christian Slater, Soldiers of Fortune). But the real challenge comes in the form of the man known as Mr. Keegan playing with power and finesse by Jason Momoa (Conan the Barbarian). Mr. Keegan is a man not to be trifled with, dangerous because even his employers don't understand his true motivations.

Bullet to the Head is action-packed start to finish. Don't be surprised if somebody jumps out of their seats even before the production and studio logos finish on the screen. Just as the title implies there's plenty of lead flying around to find their way into the cranium of men There are moments where the sheer firepower to dispatch a person is overkill but it makes for great entertainment. Every fight scene, from Kwon fighting in a parking garage, to Jimmy facing down his contact Ronnie Earl (Brian Van Holt, Cougar Town) in a Turkish bath, to the fire ax wielding climax between Mr. Keegan and Jimmy, Some of the best action comes not with a gun but with well-placed fists.

The relationship between Jimmy and Kwon is a showing of diversity, each trying to keep the upper hand. One uses the letter of the law whole the other uses the way of the gun. Both think they are right - and they both may be right - but two alpha males on opposite ends of the moral spectrum can't occupy the same space for too long. It makes for a reasonably tense drama as well as some humor. Add in a possible love connection between straight-laced Korean Kwon and Jimmy's daughter Lisa (Sarah Shahi, I Don't Know How She Does It) and one may have a recipe for disaster.

Based on a graphic novel, Bullet to the Head is probably the perfect project for Stallone to dabble his action craft in. The runtime is a fast 91 minute, giving Stallone just enough time to have several fight scenes, explosive gun battles, and a reasonably put together story to make the flick worthwhile.

Bullet to the Head is set in the backdrop of coastal Louisiana. The story uses a few story elements of the locale, from Jimmy's man cave shack on the bayou, to a masquerade party with costumes and masks, to a crooked real estate deal taking advantage of the depressed post-Katrina, current recession era region.

Bullet to the Head is a popcorn worthy action flick from an established action star still making good action flicks. After 91 minutes of this fast-paced thrill ride, you may need snuggle up to a bullet to the head, but in a good way!

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The Expendables 2

Expendable Viewing

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Rated: R  Strong bloody violence
Release Date: August 17, 2012
Runtime:  1 hour 43 minutes

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Director: Simon West
Writers: Richard Wenk, Sylvester Stallone, Ken Kaufman, David Agosto, Dave Callaham
Cast:  Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Scott Adkins, Nan Yu

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SYNOPSIS: Barney Ross and the Expendables are recruited again by Mr. Church for a job as payback for the previous mission they did not come through on. When one of their own is murdered, the Expendables seek revenge.

REVIEW: Simon West, director of Jason Statham's The Mechanic and Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, takes over directing duties from the first film's Barney Ross, Sylvester Stallone. Based on the original characters created by Stallone and Dave Callaham, writing duties are shared by Stallone, Richard Wenk (The Mechanic), Ken Kaufman (Space Cowboys), and David Agosto (Big Canyon). Just when you thought every blockbuster action star from the 80s and 90s received screen time in the original high-octane action adventure film, more well-loved but forgotten come out in force.

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham, The Mechanic) and the rest of the Expendables carry out a mission in Nepal to recover a rich Chinese business. Upon their return to the States, Mr. Church (Bruce Willis, REDS) confronts Barry about the five million dollars that he lost during Barney's previous mission for Church. Forced to carry out a retrieval mission for Church, Barney is also saddled with a new recruit named Maggie (Nan Yu, Speed Racer), who Church threatens bodily harm to Barney and the Expendables if she is hurt. Heading to Albania by plane, Barny, Lee, Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren, Rocky IV), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews, Bridesmaids), Toll Road (Randy Couture, Setup), Maggie, and young ex-Army sniper Billy (Liam Hemsworth, The Hunger Games) scour the countryside for the wreckage of a plane with a special cargo that Church does not want to fall into the wrong hands. When Barney and his team do retrieve the special device, they are ambushed by a group of mercenaries named the Sant, led by Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kung-Fu Panda 2). Forced to hand over the device to the Sant, Barry is given one more emotional blow when one of his Expendables is killed by Vilain. Vowing revenge against Vilain, Ross, Christmas, Maggie, and the rest of the team look to hunt down the Sant regardless of the consequences from Church or anyone else.

I remember when Stallone's The Expendables came out in 2010. What a nostalgic rush! A action flick with many of the greatest names of action from the 80s, 90s, and today on the same screen in the same darkened theater. It was an action geek's dream come true to see Stallone and Lundgren back together again (and on the same side this time). And even though Willis and Schwarzenegger were shown in the trailers, and we knew for certain they were playing characters in cameo appearances, we geeked out even more. Add in Jet Li, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture, and you had a hell of a top-billed mindless bullet- and blood-filled slug fest. Now, two years later, we get to add in Jean-Claude Van Damme as the villain Vilain and Chuck Norris as the lone wolf merc Booker to the character credits, with expanded screen time for both Willis' Mr. Church and Schwarzenegger's Trench. The expectation is that everything will be just that much bigger and better.

Heightened expectations may be one of The Expendables 2 main problems. With so many A-List action stars, there doesn't seem to be enough story for anyone. Willis and Schwarzenegger do get more screen time, but the time they do spend in front of the camera is primarily gun-toting money shots and cheesy one-liners. Hey, I am all for the cheesy one-liners, but they seemed expected and forced - only working half the time. And some (not all) of the action sequences are so silly that I was reminded of the Police Squad television series, or even the 80s Hasbro G.I. Joe cartoon. Mercenaries can't be that bad of shots with so much lead flying around. Hell! Even I can hit the heart of a paper target at fifty feet with a 9mm Glock 17! But while I complain about the gunfights, some of the more 'up close and personal' bloody and bone-crushing fight sequences are great. Jason Statham's knife play is excellent, especially when he dons the cleric's robes. Lundgren, Crews, and Couture make every shot count with their brawling prowess. And Van Damme shows that he still has it when the final showdown takes place between him and the pursuing Expendables.

Stallone remains the stoic reluctant mercenary who realizes too late that the life he chose is not the life he wants. At least he is good at it! Gunner and Yin Yang have made up so we do not get any team betrayals, and now that Lee Christmas has made up with his girlfriend, we do not get to see any Stateside ass-kicking. This time around all focus is on the mission and the villainy of the Van Damme's profiteering mercenary Sant leader Vilain and his lieutenant Hector (Scott Adkins, El Gringo), and what the Expendables are willing to do to stop them. There is plenty of bloody action and gun play to go around. The addition of Norris, Nan Yu, Hemsworth, and the expanded roles for Willis and Schwarzenegger fill the screen with plenty of action talent and multiple possibilities.

The addition of young blood sniper Billy the Kid by Liam Hemsworth and Nan Yu's Maggie does do something obviously different to the sequel. It makes the others look old! When Billy is told to take point by Ross he sprints up the hill with his ruck and weapon, leaving the others to wonder if they even had it in them to do the same. The writers, director, and actors are good sports about admitting that they are aging dinosaurs in a world of a younger breed. Their crankiness offers a few genuine laughs, especially when 'old married couple' Ross and Christmas nag at each other through most of the story.

The Expendables 2 is what you should expect from such a film. Lots of gun play, explosions, spraying blood, testosterone-filled quips and one-liners surround a lightly plotted story tying it all together. It is not necessarily better than the original, but it does continue in the same vein. Van Damme and Adkins are better villains than The Expendables David Zayas' General Garza in terms of physicality, but the quasi-political intrigue brought in by Eric Roberts' James Munroe and Willis' Mr. Church seemed bigger in scope in the original, if not bad-ass-ier.

The Expendables 2 will make some money from those who blood lust for bullets, blood, and all things action. Action movie junkies are a finicky bunch, but they have never let a cheesy story get in the way of a popcorn bucket and a mindless good time!

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WORTH:  Rental