Marky Mark and Denzel …nuff’ said
2 Guns
Universal Pictures
Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg
August 2nd, 2013
Going into this movie I was expecting a buddy cop movie about taking down a Mexican cartel. What I got instead was a deep and twisting tale of two men who were betrayed by everyone, including the CIA, the cartels and the US Navy Seals and also their attempts to return 43.125 million dollars to its unlawful owners. Needless to say I was surprised but luckily it was a pleasant surprise.
Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg play Bobbie Trench, DEA officer, and Michael Stigman, an officer of the US Naval Intelligence. What makes this movie works is how well the two play their separate roles, yet mesh perfectly together in competition.
Wahlberg’s character is a real jerk. He’s cocky, arrogant and will hit on any female he sees(short of his old navy buddy’s daughter). However when it comes time to what is right he not only will do it, but he will also back up his cockiness by being the best damn shot you could want. (He takes out a helicopter pilot with a 9mm).
Denzel on the other hand is very much a loner who can play it smooth and charming when needed — but really seems like he would prefer to be left alone. These characters are so wildly different but you can see how they get along and their bickering sounds like an old married couple and leads to some hilarious lines better than many comedies I’ve seen.
However, this movie does have a couple problems with it. First I don’t like or dislike nudity in films but I hate when directors put in nudity just to say “hey this film has a naked lady.” The scene in question last maybe 30 seconds offering teasing peeks at Paual Patton’s breasts through her hair yet in a similar scene five minutes later she decided to put her bra on this time. Either actually have a point to it or don’t have it as this just came off gratuitous.
The second problem is that despite everything that happens both characters are still wanted by the police and CIA so unless the developers intend to film a sequel they leave way too many questions unanswered.
Despite the two problems I had with the movie it was a very funny and high octane action movie which exceeded my expectations from the trailers. I would very much like to see this movie get a sequel, if only to get another amazing bullet time fight that this one ended with. I rate this an 8/10. Run to the theatres.
-Cooper Thompson