Review of Bullet to the Head (2012) by Matt A — 05 Feb 2013

At 66 Stallone still is entertaining; I will give him that! I know I certainly have no hope of looking that good at 66, so he deserves kudos for that at the very least. Now, 'Bullet To The Head' is another story entirely!

Loaded with trashy action, an unapologetic look back to the once shining careers of it's star and director (Walter Hill), 'Bullet To The Head' (so inappropriately titled giving the current gun violence raging through our nation) is nothing more than a series of gratuitous violent scenes punctuated by incoherent grunts from Stallone. The plot is totally predictable and a toss away from the 80's action films that made the two famous, even down to the full confessional from the bad guy midway through, just in case you didn't already figure it all out.

The problem with 'Bullet To the Head' is not it's lack of story; it's not even it's lack of acting (what else would we expect from Stallone these days), it's problem is in it's utter lack or originality. Instead of placing Stallone's character in a story fitting to 2013, it places him in 2013 within a story that is firmly rooted in the 1980's. It is because of this retread material that the movie never becomes anything more than a few scenes of unadulterated, needless violence occasionally punctuated with dialogue that is not even remotely interesting.

As a throw back to the films of the 80's that made stars of Stallone and Schwarzenegger I suppose 'Bullet To The Head' is passable at best. But like any other tired retread, at some point the creators must realize it is time to give up. Perhaps these two aging stars should take their cue from Bruce Willis. His recent turns in 'Looper' and 'RED", and soon 'Die Hard 5', all play off of his aging status. rather than try to prove he is still 30 years younger, Willis embraces his age and plays off of the experience.

'Bullet To The Head' is a tired and worn 2 star effort that is better left as a DVD rental.