The Weekend Review: The Gunman

In which I review a selection of last weekend's entertainment.

Some movies are just too good to be true.  You know the ones that I'm talking about.  These are the Jupiter Ascendings, Phantom Menaces and Dead Man's Chests of the world.  Sometimes they're made by dynamite directors (Exodus: Gods and Kings), Oscar-winning writers (Jennifer's Body) and A-list actors (Hulk).  Other times they're adaptations of best-selling novels (Divergent), feature beloved characters (Green Lantern) or are long-awaited sequels to hit movies (The Matrix Reloaded).  They aren't necessarily bad, mind you, just too good to be true.

And no matter how closely you guard yourself from them, no matter how diligent you are in choosing what to watch, they always manage to sneak up on you in the end.  How could something that started with Batman end up with Batman & Robin?  How could a franchise as popular as Dragon Ball Z end up producing Dragon Ball: Evolution?  Who would have thought that a movie featuring Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Idris Elba could be as boring as The Gunman?

On its surface, The Gunman should have been a surefire hit.  Its principle cast featured two Oscar winners and the guy that played Heimdall in Thor.  It was directed by the same guy who helmed Taken.  It was an R-rated action movie opening against a relatively open field of princess movies and a YA adaptations and its only real competition was another tired-looking Liam Neeson action movie.  Where did it go wrong?

Remember that stellar cast that I mentioned earlier?  Despite the film's trailers giving equal attention to the three A-listers, only Sean Penn is afforded any significant screen time.  Idris Elba is essentially just a third-act plot point: playing an Interpol agent who provides Penn's character with the occasion to make amends for his clandestine life.  Javier Bardem is wasted as Penn's romantic rival who promised to look after his girl the same way that a friendly neighbor promises to look after your cat when you're on vacation.

One of The Gunman's chiefest problems is pacing.  The movie is nearly two hours long and it draaaags from scene to scene with all the smug self-importance of  a film that has something profound to say about the human condition.  The problem is that it doesn't, and the trope of the penitent killer has been done so  many times already - in so many better-made films - that any would-be surprises are guessed at long before they're revealed.

More than anything, however, The Gunman suffers from putting concerns of plot development over those of character development.  Say what you will about how unrealistic The Equalizer was, it understood the importance of making the audience care about the characters that it put into harm's way.  It took its time establishing characters before the action started and developing them through its conclusion.

The Gunman, however, does not.  Rather than establishing characters before the action starts, it establishes plot: political strife in the Congo concerning the policies of the Minister of Mining.  When the action starts, it continues to develop plot: the attempted assassination of Jim Terrier (Sean Penn) for unknown reasons.  And, while hunted down by an international syndicate of assassins, it continues to focus on nothing but plot: an Interpol investigation of a former assassin's corporation because of his involvement in Minister of Mining's assassination.

It seems like the movie-going public was smarter than I was this weekend, since it only made $5 million at the box office.  While it wasn't an especially bad movie, it was a listless series of missed opportunities and boring action sequences.  This is an easy movie to skip if you find yourself in need of something to see in theaters this weekend.  Do yourself a favor and check out Cinderella instead.

Rating:  3.5/10

Buy it on BluRay:  No.

So what did you think of The Gunman?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Join the Filmquisition on Twitter (@Filmquisition) or by subscribing to this blog.