Director: Baltasar Kormákur.
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, Edward James Olmos, James Marsden.
Certificate: 15.
Extras: Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary with producer Adam Siegel and director Baltasar Kormákur, Click Click, Bang Bang: The Making of 2 Guns, The Good, The Bad And The Sexy featurette, Finding The Vibe featurette, Living Dangerously featurette.
One of Mark Wahlberg’s two attempts at a summer smash, 2 GUNS sees the future TRANSFORMERS actor star alongside screen icon and legend Denzel Washington. Denzel is an undercover DEA agent, whilst Wahlberg is a disgraced naval intelligence officer, who is also working undercover. Neither know about the other, and both are using the other to expose Mexican cartel boss Papi Greco (Olmos). After a plan to rob a bank and un-cover Greco’s secret stash of cash goes wrong, the pair find themselves on the wrong side of the enigmatic Earl (Paxton).
Make sure you are really ready to watch 2 GUNS when you stick it on, as we jump straight in at the deep end. We begin right before the bank robbery, the story then rewinds slightly, but only slightly. From here on out the story rapidly picks up pace and leaps from scene to scene. Although refreshing to not have to sit through a long drawn-out set-up before the action pay-off, it does feel a lot like you’ve switched onto the movie halfway through.
The chemistry between the two leads is fantastic and it’s clear from some of the featurettes within the extras that the pair really enjoyed each others company. The banter between the pair is relentless from the opening scene all the way through the bitter end.
Also rare for films within this genre is the calibre of the supporting cast, with Olmos and Paxton in particular being on top form. It’s nice to see Hudson and Admiral Adama back on the big screen, and as Qunice, a fairly small role, Marsden gets to say more than he did in all three X-MEN films. Paula Patton rounds up the second billing stars as sexy ex-flame of Washington’s Bobby.
There are plenty of action sequences and explosions to dazzle the eyes, however there are several twists and about turns during the film that don’t come off quite as well as they should. Towards the end it feels a little like a few turns too many, making the film seem slightly overlong.
Extras: There is nothing out of the ordinary with the features, just the standard commentary, deleted scenes and making of featurettes. The Good, The Bad And The Sexy sees everyone talk up their parts and showcases Wahlberg and Washington’s on set improvisations that lead to the final content.
2 GUNS is released on 9th December on Blu-Ray and DVD.
