Review of The Gunman (2015) by Ian G — 07 Dec 2015

The Gunman is another entry in the recent trend of casting seasoned actors in action-oriented roles and this is easily one of the best since the original, Taken; critical beat-down aside. The film stars, Sean Penn (who also produces) as a disgraced hitman who finds his old employers coming after him to tie up the loose ends left behind from years past; nothing you haven't seen before, but the straight-forward, and blunt approach to the violence/action scenes really stood out to me.

The film is directed by the man who brought us the aforementioned, Taken, and the swift, brutal action scenes shine here and Penn pulls them off with gusto, and he's never been in better shape in his life! The supporting work from Mark Rylance and Ray Winstone is welcomed, but strangely Javier Bardem misses the mark and gives a detached/irritating performance and Idris Elba is completely wasted and only appears in TWO scenes.

Critics have slammed the movie calling it "dull" and "self-serious" but I was never bored with the material, and I happen to like action movies with a straight-forward tone and don't screw around.

It's not a film I would likely watch again, but while it was on I was enjoying myself and I will mostly remember the shocking scenes of violence, most notably when Penn punches a seemingly innocent woman in the face; I certainly gasped!