Bullet to the Head (2012) starring Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jason Momoa, Christian Slater directed by Walter Hill Movie Review

Bullet to the Head (2012)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Sylvester Stallone in Bullet to the Head (2012)

Stallone's Not Over the Hill

Jimmy ‘Bobo' Bonomo (Sylvester Stallone) has been killing people for a living for a long time and with partner Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda) they go and do a job on a man who turns out to be an ex-cop. But their night doesn't end there as another hitman, Keegan (Jason Momoa), has been hired to kill them and whilst he ends Louis' life Jimmy manages to almost pump Keegan with lead. But that leads to Jimmy being confronted by Washington detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) who had been a partner to the man Jimmy was hired to kill and believes Keegan was hired by the same people to end Jimmy's life. After saving Taylor's life and taking him to his tattooist daughter to get the bullet removed and then they start working together. The question is that whilst they both want revenge a cop and a killer don't always have the same way of doing things even when their path leads them up against some corrupt cops.

"Bullet to the Head" isn't a bad movie as it works through a storyline full of cliches in an entertaining manner delivering on everything it aims to deliver on. That starts with Stallone in his comfort zone of an action role but one with a cynical aspect which comes with age which makes those one liners all the more entertaining. He also works well with Sung Kang and so the old familiar of the cop and the criminal joining forces ends up entertaining especially with the blend of Stallone doing old school action whilst Kang's Kwon is more tech savvy. Even the working through the inevitable array of corrupt cops and fight scenes is entertaining in a typical action movie sort of way

Sung Kang in Bullet to the Head (2012)

And in truth I could go on because if I was going to write down everything I expected from this sort of Walter Hill movie "Bullet to the Head" delivers. The action is punchy, there is plenty of style and whilst the focus is on the action and then the humour he still manages to bring in enough character depth without it feeling forced and without it disrupting the vibe of the movie.

The trouble with "Bullet to the Head" is that every part of it in one form or another feels familiar especially the cop and the criminal aspect which Walter Hill had already explored back in 1992 with "48 Hrs." And in truth the bringing together of Sylvester Stallone and director Walter Hill lifted my hopes of something special rather than something just acceptable and entertaining.

What this all boils down to is that "Bullet to the Head" is an okay movie, for fans of Stallone it is entertaining and those who have enjoyed Walter Hill's action movies will also enjoy this. But you find yourself finishing the movie and knowing that when asked to name a Stallone movie you will have trouble remembering the name of this one.


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