My Review: 2 Guns (6/10)

"No one expected it! You should have seen your face!"

Yes, we pretty much expected everything that was going to happen in this formulaic old-school buddy cop action comedy, but it was fun to see these two charismatic and talented actors interact with one another. Denzel Washington is one of my favorite actors and Mark Wahlberg is also incredibly likable and funny. They make this otherwise predictable and generic film entertaining. It kind of pays homage to those 90 action thrillers like Lethal Weapon or Bad Boys where you have several plot twists going on but the success of the film completely relied on the two lead characters and the way they played off each other. 2 Guns might suffer from a script that was written for a straight to DVD film, but Washington and Wahlberg elevate the material to a higher level. This is the second time that Wahlberg works with Icelandic director, Baltasar Kormakur, after last year's Contraband. In 2 Guns Wahlberg has a much lighter role, and he has several funny scenes, and it completely works considering the script is way too weak to take itself seriously. 2 Guns was an entertaining film, but it was way too formulaic to stand out. It is an ok film for a one time viewing, but just don't go into it expecting it to be mind blowing, because it's just a ridiculously fun film.

Robert Trench (Denzel Washington) is an undercover DEA agent trying to bring down the leader of a Mexican drug cartel known as Papi (Edward James Olmos). Michael Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) is a Naval Intelligence agent who is also trying to get to Papi's money to bring down his cartel. Robert and Stig team up without knowing that either one of them is really working undercover. Stig convinces Robert to rob a small local bank where Papi keeps his money. The heist is far more successful than they had anticipated and they soon discover that they have both been framed. This was never Papi's money and now they have all sort of government officials after them along with the cartel. They will have to learn to trust each other if they want to survive. Bill Paxton plays a supporting role as one of the government officials who is after the money, while Paula Patton plays Robert's love interest.

Washington and Wahlberg were great together and they are probably the film's biggest asset. I do have to admit that I enjoyed Bill Paxton's performance here. He was probably the lone secondary character that actually worked. James Marsden was completely miscast. As the title suggests, the film really relies on the two guns: Washington and Wahlberg. If you like these actors then you will probably enjoy this film, if you don't then forget about it. The film also suffers from a weaker second half, but at least it's fast paced and keeps you entertained. It's mindless fun. I can't think of a Denzel Washington film I haven't liked. He never disappoints.