Review of The Gunman (2015) by Greg B — 23 Mar 2015

"The Gunman" is an action film starring Sean Penn as a renegade sniper who is commissioned by a prominent international organization to assassinate the mining minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The CEO of the company wants to monopolize the minerals in DRC and once his company comes under fire by Interpol and the CIA, the company tries to cleanse from within and snuff anyone involved in the assassination to reduce the blood on its hands.

Sean Penn and co-conspirator Javier Bardem are caught up in the fallout and have to team up to try and discover the root of the contract to kill Penn. Throw a mutual love interest into the mix, and things get even more complicated.

The plot elements in this film are extremely derivative, and the plot is lacking a certain degree of depth, but I felt Sean Penn's charisma as the new-age Rambo coupled with the high octane entertainment value elevate this film into the solid range.

At times, Penn is going through the motions, but the film has enough action to offset the minor hiccups in execution. I don't think Penn needs to make a habit of being another aging action hero (Expendables), but he holds his own just fine in the pantheon of grandpas who kick ass ---------------------------------------------------------------- B.