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.

My Review: Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol (7/10)

¨Mission accomplished¨

The fourth installment of the Mission Impossible franchise has finally arrived after five long years. It`s been so long that I really don`t remember much of what happened in the latest mission, but it isn’t that important because these movies stand on their own. The first Mission Impossible film came out way back in 1996 and now fifteen years later the mission continues with Tom Cruise as the lead character once again, although this time they brought in a new director: Brad Bird. Bird is known mostly for his direction in animated films such as The Incredibles and Ratatouille, but he proves with Ghost Protocol that he can make an entertaining action film as well. There are some really great choreographed action scenes in this film with good visual effects. The story is entertaining, although cartoonish at times. One thing is for sure, you won`t be bored with this latest installment because there is plenty of action going around. I still don`t think the film is as brilliant as many people are saying it is. It works as a summer popcorn movie, but it isn`t much more than that. It definitely won`t be memorable or even rank among my favorite films of the year, but I still enjoyed this action film. One of the problems I had with this movie was the pace of the film; the story is really long and at some points I felt it was dragging a bit. The final action scene was a little over the top as well and it felt like it would never end. There were also some corny moments in the dialogue from the screenplay which was written by Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, but the film worked thanks to some entertaining actions scenes, and Tom Cruise proves he`s an action star as well.

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back in action once again with yet another mission that seems impossible, but this time he will have to work with a different team and without the help of the IMF division because it has been disavowed by the American President after a mission goes wrong in Russia and relations between both countries seem to hang by a very thin thread. At the beginning of the movie Ethan is in a prison in Moscow and has to be rescued by other IMF field agents, Benji (Simon Pegg) and Jane (Paula Patton). Once they free Ethan, the three team up for an important mission in Russia where they are ordered to infiltrate the Kremlin archives, but something goes wrong when someone else steals the files they`re looking for and alerts the Russian police that Ethan is inside the building. Ethan manages to escape, but right after he does the entire building blows up and Ethan is the prime suspect, although in order to not stir up the public the Russian government claims the explosion was due to a gas leak accident. This is where the relations between the US and Russia government reaches its boiling point and Ethan must find the person behind the betrayal before a nuclear war begins. The search takes them from one location to the next so we get to see Ethan and his team climbing the world`s tallest building in Dubai first and later ending up in Bombay. IMF intelligence analyst, William Brandt (Jeremy Renner), joins the team and embarks in this mission impossible.

There are plenty of thrills and emotional moments during the movie, but despite the fact that it`s entertaining I still felt like there were some dull moments that could`ve been cut out from this over two hour long film. Tom Cruise is back doing what he does best; it`s always good to see him in these action roles (despite the fact that he has a peculiar form of running) and he was great in the Dubai scene. Jeremy Renner was also a great addition; he`s been on a real role ever since the Hurt Locker. Simon Pegg provides the comedy needed in these action films to break down the tension, and Paula Patton was much more than just eye candy; she could kick some butt. I also liked to see Michael Nyqvist in the villain role after his work in the Swedish Millennium trilogy. Mission Impossible had everything it needed to succeed: action stars, great action scenes, and some comedic relief, but I still felt like something was missing. I don`t think this is the best film of the franchise, but it`s still worth the watch. You will be entertained, just don`t expect it to be one of best action films of the year. I had a lot more fun with Fast Five than I did with Ghost Protocol. I`m glad however that Tom Cruise is back making some entertaining movies and doing what he does best.

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