My Review: Bullet to the Head (3/10)

"Are we gonna fight or are you planning on boring me to death?"

The tagline for this film claims that "Revenge never gets old," but Bullet to the Head seems to prove the contrary. The film feels extremely old, overdone, formulaic, generic, and full of cheesy dialogues and senseless violence. The greatest problem with it is that it takes itself so seriously that it is just pain inducing. I have great respect for Sylvester Stallone and director Walter Hill because I grew up in the 80's loving most of their films. This film, however didn't even touch my nostalgic chords and I couldn't help but feel completely bored with it. It's a tiresome film because there aren't credible action scenes, likable characters, or believable situations. The film might have been better if they took the classic buddy cop comedy formula and let Sung Kang (who is really likable in The Fast and the Furious sequels) play off Stallone, but instead they just tried to look serious and cool all the time. The script (written by Alessandro Camon who doesn't even come close here to the success he achieved with The Messenger) was terribly adapted from a graphic novel and some of the dialogue here literally hurt my ears. The film is just an excuse to jump from one action scene to the next without making much sense. Believe me, when you see Bullet to the Head you will be convinced that, yes, even revenge can get old, and so do its stars.

I will try to be as brief as possible with the plot summary. James (Sylvester Stallone) and his partner Louis (Jon Seda) are hit men working in New Orleans. After their latest hit they are set up and Louis is killed by a man named Keegan (Jason Momoa). James escapes and decides to avenge his partner's death, but along the way he teams up with a DC detective named Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) who is also looking for the same men that have set James up. Realizing that they can help each other out they begin searching for their common enemy as they climb the corporate ladder along the way. Sarah Shahi plays Stallone's daughter, while Christian Slater and Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje play supporting roles as the villains. 

The main issue with this film is that it has a weak story. There is nothing that the cast can do to save this movie because the action scenes alone aren't enough to make this an enjoyable experience. There isn't even a strong enough transition from one scene to the next. This is just a formulaic and generic film that one would expect to find in a straight to dvd movie. None of the characters here are likable and there is no charm to this film. It doesn't have any clever twists or anything to say; it is just a straight up action film with nothing new to offer. It's as if they would have found this film in the 80's and decided to premiere it now. It's 90 minutes of complete dullness. The only thing that could have saved this film was if Stallone decided to make fun of the material (kind of the way Arnold did in The Last Stand), but he takes himself too seriously. This is as formulaic of an action macho flick as most romantic chick flicks are. It might appeal to straightforward action fans, but I surely didn't have fun with it. Maybe I'm just not macho enough.

My Review: Fast and Furious 6 (8/10)

¨You don’t turn your back on family, even when they do.¨

Fast and Furious 6 and The Hangover Part 3 were both released today in what looks to be a tight box office race for the Memorial Day weekend. If you would have asked me a couple of years ago which film I would prefer to see, I would have definitely chosen to go see The Hangover Part 3 because I loved the first movie and thought it was a great comedy; I also enjoyed The Fast and The Furious film but wasn’t too pleased with the following three sequels. Then in 2011 when both Fast Five and The Hangover Part 2 came out, things completely changed for me. I was hooked with The Fast and Furious franchise while part two of The Hangover was a major letdown. That is why this weekend I decided to go for Fast and Furious 6 without a doubt, and I wasn’t disappointed. This might not be as good as the last film (which I think is the best in the franchise), but it lived up to expectations and was highly entertaining. This is Justin Lin´s fourth time in the director´s chair in this franchise and he seems to have had a great effect on these movies converting them into entertaining thrillers with some great action scenes. Screenwriter, Chris Morgan, is also back for the fourth time and he has managed to actually put some brains to these fast car races and create better characters. He´s developed these characters very well and made them interesting, and has also done a decent job at creating some memorable villains. The film is fast paced, has several thrills, great car chases, and some decent character development. Of course there are several flaws as well: unbelievable and laughable scenes involving guys jumping off moving vehicles and landing safely all the time, and some very predictable moments and foreseeable twists. I still had a fun time with this film and laughed more than I thought I would.  

If you thought that Toretto (Vin Diesel) and O´Conner (Paul Walker) were retired after their latest heist in Rio, then you were wrong because Detective Hobbs (Dwayne ¨The Rock¨ Johnson) has an interesting proposition for them. He is pursuing some dangerous criminal mercenary drivers led by Shaw (Luke Evans) who have been creating chaos all over Europe. In order to stop them, Hobbs knows that he will need the help of Toretto. Hobbs discovers that Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Toretto´s former love interest, is alive and working for Shaw, and therefore convinces Toretto to help him. The rest of his crew decides to come out of retirement as well and try to bring Letty back home with them. In exchange, Hobbs promises these men full pardon, and they accept without hesitation because they are tired of running and not being able to return home. Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Chris ¨Ludacris¨ Bridges), Han (Sung Kang), and Gisele (Gal Gadot) are all back in order to help Toretto and O´Conner to stop the ruthless criminals pursuing them from London to Spain, but Shaw and his men seem to be always a step ahead of them.

This sixth film in the franchise seems to tie some loose ends from the third and fourth installment in a very thrilling and entertaining way. The franchise has really picked up and it seems to have a lot of life left in it. It even ends with a cliffhanger, so it is certain that the seventh film will be coming out soon as well. Most everyone in the franchise is back again (only missing Tego Calderon and Don Omar) and the interaction between these characters is very entertaining. Ludacris and Tyrese pretty much steal all the laughs in the scenes they are together in, while Gadot and Kang bring in the romantic touch. Toretto and O´Conner have put aside their differences from the first films and their bond is pretty strong now as they are family. Despite some of the insane and absurd action scenes, this film stands above most other action films thanks to a strong performance from the cast. This film is really a lot of fun as long as you don’t think too hard of all the physical impossibilities of what they are achieving. The franchise just continues to grow faster and faster, and it works really well for a summer blockbuster movie. Fans won´t be disappointed, it is a very satisfying film.   

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