2 Guns Review

Some films think they can get by on star swagger and a bit of witty banter. Throw in plenty of alpha male machismo, gunfights and explosions, a single sexy siren to gawp at and the plot can be as ridiculous as you like; apparently young men will lap it up for sure. 2 Guns has Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg in a plot so ludicrous that you wouldn't want to dare take a moment to stop and think about it or you might just be tempted to walk out the cinema.

Washington is Bobby Trench involved in dealing drugs and dodgy passports to cartels with his partner Wahlberg's quick shot, quick witted Stig. Sounds simple. Then it turns out Washington is an undercover cop and Wahlberg is working undercover for the Navy. Neither knows this until the shit hits the fan and then it gets even sillier. After robbing a bank full of what they thought was cartel money, it turns out the corrupt CIA have a stake in what they stole and now Bill Paxton's sadistic CIA bigwig is on their tail and Washington and Wahlberg are being double crossed and chased by everyone else in the film. Will their 2 Guns be enough to take down the cartels and the CIA?

More to the point, will the undoubtedly appealing double act of Washington and Wahlberg on fine swaggering form be enough to paper over the cracks in such a silly set up? The dialogue has occasional dashes of wit and the story moves quickly enough to drag you along without too many questions niggling at your logic sensors. However it doesn't matter how cool the stars think they are if the script never gives them anything memorable to say. Bill Paxton is very welcome (where's he been?) and gets the stand out villain character but he would have made more of an impact in a different film, one that didn't try to veer so wildly between comedic moments and attempts at some real threat and danger.

For an action comedy, 2 Guns delivers plenty of shoot outs and a healthy dose of exploding stuff but the script is weaker when it comes to the comedy. Without the charisma of Washington and Wahlberg, it is easy to assume this might have gone straight to DVD. It's quite fun while it lasts but you certainly don't want to spend any time afterwards pondering the plot. 2 Guns is neither Washington nor Wahlberg's best but it's still worth a shot, just probably not 2.

On a side note, I got to interview Denzel Washington at the Flight premiere and I asked him about 2 Guns. Read the red carpet report here. Watch the trailer for 2 Guns below:

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