Review of Bullet to the Head (2012) by Andy C — 14 Aug 2013

Sylvester Stallone has always had the ability to make ridiculous and/or weak dialogue passable and (seemingly) one dimensional characters watchable. In the 80's, he made a career out of it. Director Walter Hill (48 HOURS, THE WARRIORS) is one of the granddaddies of the "buddy cop" genre and has always done well with his no-nonsense (some would say simple) approach to storytelling. Pairing these two legends together should have been a match made in heaven, but alas, this isn't the 80's, and in a world of cell phones, flash drives and computers, we need a bit more smarts with our bruises.

"Buddy cop" flicks have always done well by playing with the conflict of "opposites attract". The most necessary component in this mix is the chemistry between the leads (LETHAL WEAPON, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, Hill's own 48 HOURS). Sung Kang (the FAST & FURIOUS series), while definitely the opposite of Stallone, is unable to meet his end of the bargain. Kang's stoicism may work as Han in THE FAST & FURIOUS, but here he comes off as uncomfortable and floundering next to Stallone's relaxed demeanor.

If you're in the video store (or more realistically, checking your Netflix queue), and your choice is between this and another piece of B-movie, DTV fare, give it a whirl, but you most likely won't remember the film the next day.