2 Guns puts Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg in a film together for the first time ever (believe it or not). With that said, when you think about the combination, it seems appropriate that it would be for a movie like 2 Guns. It is just serious enough to pull in a high caliber actor such as Washington, but just silly enough with plenty of action to draw in Wahlberg. When you combine the two talents, you get a film that is a mixed bag of silly fun and violent action.
It’s good to go into the film realizing that it’s based on a graphic novel series. So you’re able to sense that things will be on the more ridiculous side more often than naught.
We see two criminals Trench (Denzel Washington) and Michael Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) working together on a bank heist, and when they bring their plan to the attention of drug lord Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos) in order to benefit their own private operations. Only this puts them on the radar of U.S. customs, as Trench is actually a DEA Agent (this was in the trailers, not a spoiler). So it looks as though Trench is playing Stigman in order to bring down Papi Greco. Only things are lot more complicated than that as Stigman is also working for someone, and once this information comes out to Trench, things get more interesting and dangerous for the both of them.
What 2 Guns gets right is the duo of Washington and Wahlberg. They work well of each other and have plenty of chemistry to strike up a successful buddy-buddy cop duo. Washington delivers a typically strong performance that shows him loosening up his belt a little and having fun with this role. Wahlberg is his typical self, only he works well off the serious, yet, lighthearted Washington, bringing out the best of Wahlberg. Paula Patton is good as Trench’s superior and love interest Deb, Bill Paxton is threatening and creepy as investigator Earl, and James Marsden is someone who is a threat to Stigman’s operation, and livelihood. He surprised me by how well he played the role of this bad guy.
The film is very violent and goes all out and over the top in the action. What else could you expect from a film called 2 Guns based on a graphic novel? Director Baltasar Kormákur, who directed last year’s Wahlberg vehicle Contraband, does a good job capturing the action, but he doesn’t really ever capture an even tone for the film. It’s sometimes serious, hitting on topics of political corruption, making us question who can you trust when you can’t even trust your employers, government, and those around you. But then it resorts to the silly fun that overshadows those other elements. It never gets a feel for what it is, and gets lost in that.
You’ll have trouble, or just get sick of trying to figure out who is double crossing who, to the point where at the film’s anti-climatic finale, you just don’t care anymore. It’s a bit of silly fun that you will laugh at bits, but it’s on the whole unremarkable, and a missed opportunity because Washington and Wahlberg actually make an pretty great team. 2 Guns is ultimately a decent action flick that will be forgotten in a few weeks when the next mindless action drove wags its pretty little tail. What won’t be forgotten is the duo of Washington and Wahlberg, who you are more than likely going to see paired up again.
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