The Gunman

The Gunmen - 3.2 / 5 (mediocre; Redbox/Netflix/Free movie ticket)

A slow paced yet very intense action film, with solid acting, an engaging story, acceptable writing, and exotic settings which were shot on-location around the world.

Story - 4 : The Gunman, starring Sean Penn as, Javier Bardern (Skyfall) as Felix, Jasmine Trinca as, and Idris Elba as, . This is an action film taking place all around the world, including Africa, England, and Spain. The movie feels like a slower version of a Bourne movie. It just felt like it was much more grounded in its action and characters.

The story is good, a very solid job. However, one of the few set-backs it does have is at the very beginning. You open up to a slow beginning, very slow. Slow enough to make it hard to concentrate and get into the film. This lasted the first 5 minutes for myself. The bad thing about that, I discovered, was that the first 5 minutes are arguably the most important of the film. So, if you go see this movie then remember, pay attention to the beginning and keep up with what’s happening. It will be important. Now, although the action is indeed slow, both the writer and director use that time to carefully set up a solid story with great plot twists added. If you care more for a solid story than fast paced action then this is a great movie to see. Some of these plot twist seem unnecessary at first but they’re not. They all present viable obstacles to the characters, which in turn moves the action forward in a way that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

Character - 4: There are only 3 characters that need to be reviewed here.

Sean Penn / Jim Terrier - Sean Penn’s character, Jim, has the ferocity and speed of Jason Bourne but with the resources and support, as in friends and such, like that of Liam Nesson’s character in Taken. Not to mention Sean Penn is closer to Liam’s age, so we apparently have another elder badass on our hands. His character also has the mentality of Bruce Willis in Die Hard as the character John McClane. Jim (Sean) is very calm and laid back under any circumstance but is always thinking quietly. Plus like the layman law officer John McClane Penn’s character seems somewhat simple to his enemies, that of a simple soldier, but he is in fact always alert, very intelligent, and ready for anything.

Jasmine Trinca / Annie – Love interest of the story, Annie is very beautiful and age appropriate for the hero and villains. She is very much the damsel in distress for the majority of the film but she isn’t without her surprises. One thing I like about her character is she puts her issues in perspective. When people are trying to kill you and an old flame reveals that he lied to you about something, are you really going to take the time to stop and cry, or try to force a “moment” . . . NO, you might get upset but mostly you’re going to run! It wouldn’t be until you’re safe that you’d forgive or not forgive, and either way, you’d do it fast and with very little drama.

Javier Bardern / Felix – So Javier basically reprises his role from the film Skyfall. By that I mean he is yet again a crazy eccentric with a giant jealous streak and a “care-less” attitude. He is a lot of fun to watch. His acting, all the mannerisms, the look he can give the characters, it’s just something really amazing. Feix is jealous, an opportunist, selfish, and a bit insane.

Intent 2 – The intent is what really hurts this film. In the previews it was painted as a fast paced action film. Unfortunately that isn’t the case here. Sure there’s a lot of action, but it isn’t fast. If you want a movie hosting car chases and intense shoot-outs, this isn’t the movie for you. That’s right, although the movie IS called The Gunman, there are very few intense gun battles and absolutely NO car chases! They even bring a vintage car into the film and they still don’t have a car chase. It was just kind of disappointing. The fight scenes were great, very well executed and intense! Not to mention all of the deaths were very brutal and the main antagonist ends up meeting his end in a very special way. It’s something that I haven’t seen since The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen! Aside from that, there was just a lot of set up for the story and not enough action for my taste, at least not for the kind of film they advertised for.

Acting 4 – With a cast like this I wouldn’t expect anything less. The conviction that Sean was able to give his character, Jim, in times of revelation and sorrow was so sincere that he felt very real. Jasmine played her damsel in distress part very well and without coming off as totally helpless or annoying. The other actors performed their characters just as well and although Idris Elma had a very small part, his character was one of my favorites of the film!

Writing 3 – There was nothing really special about the writing. It was good enough to move the action along, keeping you informed and still shrouded in a bit of mystery, while staying in-tuned with the character’s feelings. The only part which came across as unique is when Idris’s character talks to Jim, Sean’s character, for the first time. I got a laugh out of that part and I think you might too, especially if you enjoy metaphors.

Final notes on this would be the production and Sean’s body. The production work was beautiful. The shots were stable and didn’t shake all over the place during fight scenes or fire fights. The shaking of the camera is done primarily to try and make you feel like you’re even more so “in the action”. Instead they kept the camera steady and let the action speak for itself. This is important for this film because it can be someone difficult to follow even with a steady shot, so any excess shaking would’ve made it much more difficult to follow. Plus the locations were amazing. They shot on location in Africa, England, and Spain, with Spain’s locations being especially beautiful.

Also, being that Sean is 55 years old, his health and physique is insane! I’m not kidding, this guy could put to shame just about any guy or gal in Hollywood. He is 55 and he looks more like 35. With the body of Borne and the experience of Liam Nesson from Taken, this is a really cool role for Sean.

Personally, I really enjoyed the film once I got into it, once realized what was going on. I just don’t think that it’s worth a theater experience. The action displayed shouldn’t be affected if you watch it on your tv for $1.30 from Redbox instead of on a theater screen for $10 . . . unless you have a free movie ticket, then totally go for it!

Thanks for reading and enjoy the movies!!!