2 Guns - Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

MARK Wahlberg and Denzel Washington combine for one of the smartest action thrillers of the year in 2 Guns.

Based on the graphic novel series of the same name published by Boom! Studios and directed by Iceland’s Baltasar Kormakur (who previously worked with Wahlberg on Contraband), the film boasts great chemistry between its two leads, some well staged action sequences that opt for realism over effects and a strong sense of character and story.

Wahlberg and Washington play, respectively, DEA agent Robert Trench and Naval officer Michael Stigman who find themselves double crossed by everyone from their own colleagues to the CIA while attempting to bring down a notorious drug cartel led by Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos).

As they attempt to clear their names and turn the tables on their enemies, Trench and Stigman cross paths with Stigman’s own Navy boss (James Marsden), ruthless CIA man Earl (Bill Paxton) and Trench’s possibly crooked former lover Deb (Paula Patton).

Kormakur’s movie is self-consciously indebted to the great buddy action movies of days gone by, whether it’s Midnight Run or 48 Hours with a little of Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid‘s chemistry thrown in.

Wahlberg and Washington are electric together, obviously relishing their time in each other’s company and bickering hilariously in between putting together the pieces or doing away with their enemies.

But there’s terrific support, too, from the likes of Paxton (stealing every scene he’s in with sadistic relish), Olmos (quietly menacing) and Patton (sexy and deliberately ambiguous).

Kormakur also deserves credit for keeping the action muscular and realistic, refusing to pull any punches but also balancing out the tough with the comic and even the character building. He thereby ensures that 2 Guns is a fantastically enjoyable action flick with stylish set pieces and genuinely memorable characters to match. Indeed, it doesn’t seem too early to describe it as a genre classic.

Certificate: 15
Running time: 116mins
UK Release Date: August 16, 2013