Review of Young Guns (1988) by Lady D — 27 Jun 2011

The film suffers from an extreme lack of development, overly quiet spots, abrupt events, the occasional expendable scene, some gratuitous forms of violence, dialogue that worsens as the film progresses, a bit of a cop-out ending and an overact-tastic performance by Lou Diamond Phillip. Still, though it's not perfect, the film is supported by solid and somewhat unique production designs, good sound, decent cinematography, a progressive increase in compellingess, some effective comic relief and solid action sequences, especially the last. As for the soundtrack, it gets a bit corny, but is still pretty solid. Of course, the real question is "Does it fit?" Yes, if this took place in the then-modern '80s times. Sure, it fits the premise, but often contradicts the Western theme, but when it does fit, it really livens things up and when it doesn't fit, it's still fairly entertaining.

Now, let's discuss the "Young Guns" behind "Young Guns". The ensemble members are charming and have great chemistry, but are - as I said - barely developed. They're entertaining leads, but there's little to invest in them outside of that. Still, their likeable charisma do a decent job at redeeming the underdevelopment, as do the particularly solid performances by Estevez and Sutherland. It may not be the most compelling ensemble, but there is enough to like about them to keep the film going. Now, I know what you're thinking "How many more times are you going to repeat your point until you fill-out this paragraph?" Yeah, I think I'm good.

At the end of the day, "Young Guns" is flawed and not terribly outstanding, but still boasts enough colorful music, decent action and charm to be a genuinely enjoyable ride.