Bullet to the Head

 About a month ago, I talked about the new Arnold Schwarzenegger film, “The Last Stand,” which was a film about a broken down hero, who still has what it takes. What made that film special to me was it's cheesy look and attitude, being a film that's expressing that even after all these years, Arnold still has what it takes to kick some ass. And now, Sylvester Stallone has brought us a film in that same way, under the name “Bullet to the Head.” How was it? Pretty disappointing, but not as much as “A Good Day to Die Hard.”

“Bullet to the Head” tells of an ex-marine now hitman, Jimmy Bobo, who is now framed for the murder of his partner, so that way some con-men won't get ahold of some evidence that will lead themselves to the police, for their illegal operations. Now Bobo has to team up with Detective Taylor Kwon, whose still in trust with some corrupt police cops, to take them down and avenge Jimmy's partner. While it IS a dumb action film, I felt it lacking on much of the stuff brought by “The Last Stand.”

First off, Stallone's character of Jimmy Bobo, I can understand his needs for revenge, but he just came off as too violent. I know that Stallone has played some dark characters in the past, but this one was a bit too much for my taste. However, due to the relationship he has with his daughter, that at least brought some likability into it, but it wasn't enough. Also, the twists with the villains, while good, didn't really hold up, since none of them were that memorable, except for NOT Conan the Barbarian, Jason Mamoa, but that's just only for his eyes which are OBVIOUSLY sinister. Not to mention, most of the cinematography is AWFUL  I could hardly tell what was going on in it, that it felt like a Jerry Bruckheimer production.

But aside from all that, there are some good moments to it. Sung Kang gave a decent performance as Detective Kwon, being a cop who has some pretty funny lines in the movie, especially with his interactions with Stallone. Same goes for Sara Shahi, since almost all of her scenes are with Kang or Stallone, so she did good in the film. And even for a cliché and cheesy plot, they manage to give it a decent enough execution.

The film was directed by Walter Hill, who was the director for “The Warriors,” one of the films that defines cult following. Sadly, this film doesn't reach that level of fun that “The Warriors” had, but thankfully it wasn't his worst either. “Supernova” anyone?

Overall, “Bullet to the Head” is a mediocre film which I'm mixed about. But if you're board and want to kill an hour and half, I'd say wait for it on Netflix, or catch a low-price matinee...but only if “The Last Stand” isn't playing at the theater you're at.

Rating 5/10