2 GUNS DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: When their attempt to infiltrate an international drug cartel goes haywire, DEA agent Bobby Trench and U.S. Naval Intelligence naval officer Michael Stigman are suddenly disavowed by their superiors. Now that everyone wants them in jail or in the ground, the only person they can count on is the other. Unfortunately for their pursuers, when good guys spend years pretending to be bad, they pick up a few tricks along the way.

MOVIE REVIEW:

With a name that sound more like a pornographic title, 2 Guns attempts to pass off as a cool, fun crime flick unfortunately has neither of both elements to make it an impressive project.

Without knowing the true identities of each other, undercover DEA agent Bobby Trench (Denzel Washington) and Naval Intelligence officer Michael Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) plans to rob a bank of $3 million whom they believe belong to a Mexican drug lord, Papi Greco. In the end, the duo stole $43 million. The money alarmingly belonged to a rogue CIA agent, Earl (Bill Paxton). With the DEA and Naval disavowing the two, they must team up and find a way to stay alive and retrieve back the loot before they are killed by Papi, Earl and Stigman’s direct superior, Harold Quince (James Marsden). 

The drama unfolds at a breakneck pace filled with double crossing, triple crossing with rogue government and military agents crashing in with plenty of shootouts and violence. It seems like the entire hierarchy of uniformed groups are in danger of collapsing with the exception of our two dear buddies. The entire plotting is cliché and predictable. The number of characters from so many parties is ridiculous and most of them merely ended up serving as target boards for Earl. Paula Patton (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) fares the worst as Trench’s on-and-off girlfriend, fellow DEA agent and showcasing her tities, a forgettable role no less.

Essentially, it’s the pair up of Washington and Wahlberg that saved the movie from being a total wreck. Their chemistry is pure solid, put the two together onscreen and you wouldn’t mind the tedious happenings around them. Their bantering is mostly ticklish and it certainly makes the bland journey a lot more fun with this pair of buddy-cop around.  

Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur’s second outing in Hollywood after Contraband suffers mostly from a chaotic plot. There’s neither wit or tension just plenty of tired shootings, chasing to keep things going. Still with both Washington and Wahlberg onboard, 2 Guns inevitably soars purely of their performances and not those poor chickens that had their heads shot off. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

There are 12 minutes of Deleted and Extended scenes, none particularly interesting except the first Bring a Kid to Work Day.

AUDIO/VISUAL:

2 Guns sound and look fantastic on DVD. There are enough loud, cross-channel action bits in the audio department and the visual generally stunning to please the audiophiles. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee