Retox Film Review: 2 Guns 2Guns

Film Review by Tom Hunt

Note: The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of RetoxMagazine.com

Film Review '2 Guns'

A fun film which could have done with slightly more energy part-way through.

Starring Denzel Washington as Bobby Trench and Mark Wahlberg as Michael Stigman 2 Guns is a sleek action crime film that does what it says on the tin, and tries to have fun while it does so.

Bobby Trench and Michael 'Stig' Stigman are two criminals working together. When they fail to work out a deal with Mexican drug lord Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos) they come up with an improvised plan to rob $3 million off him from a bank. The catch here is Bobby is a DEA Agent and Stig is a naval intelligence officer, both are undercover, and both aren't aware of each others real identities. They end up coming away with the rather larger sum of $43 million, and once their identities are revealed to each other they realise something isn't quite right with their bank job. They have to put aside their differences and work together to evade their own agencies, while battling the corrupt C.I.A, headed by a dangerous man named Earl (Bill Paxton) and Papi and his gang.

Above: A still from the film '2 Guns'

Wahlberg plays the happy-go-lucky special forces officer who's just glad to have a buddy and someone who can just about tolerate being in the same room as him, as most can't. Beneath his charm and sometimes irritating (to those in the film) personality, Stig lives his life by code and honour. Trench, while having his funny moments, is the more serious of the two, but he is by no means the foil to Stig.. He's very much his own person, looking out for himself, as that's what he's learnt to do. Instead, the story is driven mostly through him, with Stig tagging along for the ride while at the same time having his own motives.

2 Guns is surprising but maybe not for the reasons you'd expect. It's a lot more story driven than the comedic trailer will have you believe, and it takes a while to get going once our main players have been established. Sadly at times the film simply meanders and you only really get a couple of enticing scenes: Trench's first meeting with Earl and the climate showdown towards the end. The film would be lost without Wahlberg and his reliable consistency to play the not so bright, but lovable character that he does so well. To round up the cast James Marsden puts in a solid performance, while Bill Paxton plays corrupt CIA agent Earl to great effect and they fit in perfectly to this star-studded cast.

With Denzel's raw emotion and his ability to sink his teeth into the gritty roles matched with Wahlberg's natural charisma doubled up with his ability to switch between comedy and action seamlessly, 2 Guns is one of the more interesting film currently in the big screen, which is largely dominated by comedy releases at the moment.