Review of Bullet to the Head (2012) by Patrick L — 20 Jul 2013

"A brutal and bloody 80's throwback that mostly borrows from "48 Hrs."".

DVD Movie Review: Bullet to the Head.

Date Viewed: July 16 2013.

Directed By Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hrs.

And Red Heat).

Screenplay By Alessandro Camon, based on the French graphic novel "Du Plomb Dans La Tete" created by Matz.

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Jason Momoa, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christian Slater, Jon Seda, Holt McCallany and Brian Van Holt.

"Bullet to the Head" is an 80's action movie wannabe that wants to be on the same level as Director Walter Hill's previous efforts from that decade, "48 Hrs.", "Extreme Prejudice" and "Red Heat" but it's lead actor doesn't have a character to play and he has nothing funny to say.

"Bullet to the Head" stars Sylvester Stallone as Jimmy Bobo, a career hitman from New Orleans who is out to get revenge on a ruthless mercenary (with special ops training) named Keegan (Jason Momoa) for killing his partner. To get Keegan, Bobo teams up with a Washington D.C. police detective named Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang, of the "Fast & Furious" franchise). Bobo doesn't like working with Kwon because he hates cops and he thinks that every cop in New Orleans is corrupt. They work their way up the ladder by kidnapping and interrogating a playboy lawyer named Marcus Baptiste (Christian Slater) and since this movie is called "Bullet to the Head" most of the bad guys get shot in the head. Then we get to the predictable and unsatisfying climax with Bobo and Keegan going head-to-head in an axe fight and he and Kwon also plan to take out Keegan's employer, an African war criminal named Robert Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

"Bullet to the Head" wants to be a buddy cop movie in the same tradition as two of Walter Hill's own movies from 25-30 years ago: "48 Hrs." and "Red Heat", but there is a lack of chemistry between Stallone and Kang, they never seem to fully embrace one another and they are no Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy. Sung Kang doesn't make much of a sidekick because his character is not interesting and he always seemed to be laid back.

In any movie like this there's always the cop or hitman seeking revenge on the guy responsible for his partner's death, there's always a flash drive or a computer chip (containing information about the bad guy's illegal operations) as a plot device and in every buddy cop movie like this there's always somebody's daughter or girlfriend in the mix so that she can be kidnapped by the bad guys.

Both Stallone and Hill really seemed to love those schlocky 80's action movies they made because this movie really looks and feels like an action movie from the 80's. I admire them both a little bit for going back to their glory days but the screenplay by Alessandro Camon (The Messenger) feels like it's 30 years out of date.