It's been ten years since Walter Hill last directed a feature movie (and that was 2002's UNDISPUTED). His new movie, BULLET TO THE HEAD, seems like a perfect fit for his long-awaited comeback. It has two combined genres associated with Hill's trademarks -- gritty action tone and buddy element. However, BULLET TO THE HEAD is hardly as great as 48 HRS (Hill's breakthrough movie back in 1982) but rather a forgettable effort ruined by uninspired direction and equally uninspired script by Alessandro Camon.
Based on Matz's graphic novel Du plomb dans la tete, the movie begins with two New Orleans veteran hit men James Bonomo (Sylvester Stallone) and his longtime partner Louis (Jon Seda) have successfully completed their latest assignment of killing a corrupted cop named Hank Greely (Holt McCallany). But soon after, Louis gets brutally stabbed at a crowded bayou bar Crawfish Hollow by a hulking bad guy named Keegan (Jason Momoa). Jimmy vows for revenge and starts to take things personal by hunting down whoever responsible for Louis' death.
Meanwhile, a Korean NYPD cop Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) arrives in town to find out who killed Hank, his former partner. Kwon eventually knows that Hank's death is related to Jimmy. However, it turns out that the case has plenty of conspiracy involved, which later forces Kwon and Jimmy teaming up together in an effort to catch their respective partners' killers.
It's a shame that Alessandro Camon's adapted screenplay is awfully formulaic. Make no mistake, there's nothing wrong for coming up an action genre that relies strictly by the formula as long as the filmmakers knows how to pump up sufficient amount of good entertainment. Unfortunately, everything in BULLET TO THE HEAD is too shopworn to qualify this as a worthwhile action thriller. Speaking of action, most of them are nothing more than a series of unimaginative shootouts and fisticuffs. Even Walter Hill seems to go auto-pilot as the director. He's totally a pale shadow of himself here.
As a buddy genre, both Stallone and Kang has none of the chemistry of Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS, or even Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi in RED HEAT. While Stallone deserves a few praises for playing a straight-faced tough guy with wisecracking attitude, the same cannot be said with Sung Kang's uncharismatic performance. Jason Momoa is physically daunting as the fearless Keegan and he proves to be a great villain who doesn't require to emote or act a lot. His best scene is no doubt the one involves the climactic axe fight against Stallone.
Based on Matz's graphic novel Du plomb dans la tete, the movie begins with two New Orleans veteran hit men James Bonomo (Sylvester Stallone) and his longtime partner Louis (Jon Seda) have successfully completed their latest assignment of killing a corrupted cop named Hank Greely (Holt McCallany). But soon after, Louis gets brutally stabbed at a crowded bayou bar Crawfish Hollow by a hulking bad guy named Keegan (Jason Momoa). Jimmy vows for revenge and starts to take things personal by hunting down whoever responsible for Louis' death.
Meanwhile, a Korean NYPD cop Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) arrives in town to find out who killed Hank, his former partner. Kwon eventually knows that Hank's death is related to Jimmy. However, it turns out that the case has plenty of conspiracy involved, which later forces Kwon and Jimmy teaming up together in an effort to catch their respective partners' killers.
It's a shame that Alessandro Camon's adapted screenplay is awfully formulaic. Make no mistake, there's nothing wrong for coming up an action genre that relies strictly by the formula as long as the filmmakers knows how to pump up sufficient amount of good entertainment. Unfortunately, everything in BULLET TO THE HEAD is too shopworn to qualify this as a worthwhile action thriller. Speaking of action, most of them are nothing more than a series of unimaginative shootouts and fisticuffs. Even Walter Hill seems to go auto-pilot as the director. He's totally a pale shadow of himself here.
As a buddy genre, both Stallone and Kang has none of the chemistry of Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS, or even Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi in RED HEAT. While Stallone deserves a few praises for playing a straight-faced tough guy with wisecracking attitude, the same cannot be said with Sung Kang's uncharismatic performance. Jason Momoa is physically daunting as the fearless Keegan and he proves to be a great villain who doesn't require to emote or act a lot. His best scene is no doubt the one involves the climactic axe fight against Stallone.