2 Guns comes to us as part of a tradition of mismatched buddy cop movies. We recently had the underwhelming and rather lazily plotted The Heat, which tried to turn the genre on its head by having two women in the lead roles. And while 2 Guns isn’t exactly reinventing the genre either, it’s nevertheless a load of fun thanks to two very likeable leads with great rapport, and the fact that it approaches its unoriginal plot with a lot more conviction than that aforementioned female-led comedy.
The plot is fairly standard though perhaps with a little more of a harder edge (conversational profanity and bloody shoot outs et al) than we may be accustomed to from films like this that are sometimes forced into a lower age rating. Based on a series of graphic novels, it centres on DEA agent Robert “Bobby” Trench (Denzel Washington) and naval intelligence officer Michael “Stig” Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) who start working together not aware of each other’s undercover status. The two of them decide to rob a bank in order to take down a mob boss but there’s more money than anticipated. The two then find themselves on the run, being hunted and blackmailed on both sides of the law for the $43 million they stole.
Films like this rise and fall on the success of the central buddy relationship. Thankfully 2 Guns has a funny, entertaining one at its center with Washington and Wahlberg on top movie star form. They’re akin to a cantankerous old married couple as they spark off of one another throughout with witty put-downs and pointless arguing about the right way to go about getting the job done. Washington is very much playing the straight man to the more sarcastic and argumentative Wahlberg, who seems to be playing a toned down amalgamation of his characters from The Other Guys and The Departed. They’re no Riggs and Murtaugh but are hugely entertaining together nonetheless.
There’s also fun to be had in just seeing familiar faces pop up here and there, from Edward James Olmos as the (admittedly clichéd) head of a drug cartel to Bill Paxton as a ruthless CIA agent hot on the duo’s heels, not averse to shooting someone in the kneecap for information while telling them a story to go with it. The characters are all very broadly drawn, including the leads, but it’s the interplay between them that make it so enjoyable to watch. The cast are clearly having a ball and it shows.
If there’s any major detrimental issue with the film, other than the been there, done that plot, it’s the love interest angle. Played by Paula Patton, the character is simultaneously underwritten and undeserved by a plot that shoehorns in her in in an attempt to provide further conflict for the central characters. Patton plays the part perfectly well but her inclusion is never clearly justified.
The film is directed by Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, who made the likes of 101 Reykjavik and Jar City before turning to Hollywood for Contraband last year (also starring Wahlberg). He directs the action here with real energy and verve (doing his best to set the record for most bullets fired) which, coupled with the great cast, elevates its otherwise pedestrian crime plot.
You’re not going to come away from 2 Guns feeling like you’ve seen anything new. The film very much coasts on a ridiculous, sometimes unnecessarily zigzagging plot that’s been done to death. However, it survives and thrives on the fun dynamic between talented actors and on that level it succeeds admirably.
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