Review of The Gunman (2015) by Dave M — 21 Mar 2015

Pierre Morel knows from action movies - and action movie franchises. The French director helped capture the big screen images we saw in, among other films, "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" (1999), "The Truth about Charlie" (2002) and the first two "Transporter" movies (2002 and 2005). Soon after, Morel graduated to director, helming the original "Taken" (2008), the movie which reinvented Liam Neeson as an action film star, followed that with John Travolta's "From Paris with Love" (2010) and then "The Gunman". That's a very good resume - and "The Gunman" is a very good film!

Morel's latest globe-trotting actioner stars Sean Penn (in his first major big screen role in two years) as Jim Terrier, an ex-special forces soldier. He then finds work with the CIA as a member of a security detail protecting employees of NGOs in third world countries like the Congo. Jim's group also has a "parallel mission" of doing financially and politically motivated hits for unknown organizations who are pretty high in the global pecking order. Jim's less than thrilled with his job and suddenly flees Africa, leaving his surgeon girlfriend, Annie (Jasmine Trinca), in the care of his boss, Felix (Javier Bardem).

Eight years later, Jim is a broken man, apparently trying to atone for a past that just can't seem to leave him alone. He suffers from massive headaches and other disorienting symptoms from blows to the head he took while working as a special operator. Emotionally, he's not in much better shape. He hasn't seen Annie since he left her without explanation and he also regrets the things he's done professionally. His answer is to come back to the Congo to help dig wells that will provide the locals with safer and more accessible drinking water. One day, a group of gun and machete-wielding thugs storm the site where Jim is working. They're either really upset about what's coming out of their taps at home, or they have an even more serious beef with him.

Jim sets out to discover the reason for the attempt on his life before it's too late. This leads him to reconnect with acquaintances from his past (Ray Winstone and Mark Rylance) and make new acquaintances (Idris Elba), while using his own "particular set of skills" to stay alive long enough to get to the bottom of what's been happening. His quest takes him from the Congo to London, Gibraltar and Barcelona. There are shoot-outs, fight scenes and chases aplenty and the movie gives us one of the more original climactic scenes that I've witnessed in quite a while.

For those of us who see a lot of movies, it's tough to make an action movie original and exciting, but Morel is just the guy to do it and "The Gunman" fits the bill quite nicely. Penn brings his usual intensity to the role - while highlighting his personal interest in helping the underprivileged around the world. (I personally know someone who saw Penn walking the streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti in the weeks following that country's devastating 2010 earthquake.) While the action's backdrop makes the story a little political, it also allows for an interesting variety of characters and locales to parade across the big screen. Penn's character's former associates (and new enemies) are appropriately duplicitous, menacing and ruthless. The fight scenes are well-choreographed and suspenseful, while the main character's medical issues add an unusual and interesting dimension to his situation. I couldn't tell you if this film is meant to be Sean Penn's "Taken", but it is fun and exciting enough to warrant checking out. "A-".