Bullet To The Head stars Sylvester Stallone as a New Orleans hit man named Jimmy Bonomo. This “extremely bad man” is an anti-hero, and Sylvester Stallone “is an aesthetically complex but compelling on-screen presence that will draw you in.” The screenplay is based upon a successful graphic novel, so there’s plenty of material to draw upon.
Bullet To The Head is all about the investigation of a double-cross in the middle of a hit man job. Taylor Quan (played by Sung Kang), a Washington D.C. detective who comes to town to investigate the murder of Jimmy’s partner, is a former cop who was once Quan’s partner. So, while not exactly a buddy cop movie, the dichotomous partnership seems to work.
ABC gives Bullet To The Head three out of five stars, with the tone of their review being overall positive:
“Stallone still has it. His trademark on-screen stoicism has served him well in his career but it’s also become a bit of a crutch. While I wish this movie was a little less predictable and Kang was a little more exciting, Bullet to the Head will absolutely satisfy anybody who’s interested enough to buy a ticket.”
The reviewers over at the New York Times disagree with this assessment, and seem to recommend that moviegoers give Bullet To The Head a pass:
“And while the veteran action director Walter Hill hasn’t done much to enliven this dull, unmemorable material, with its mechanically moving parts and popping gunfire, its dull-red splatter and spray, he has brought a spark of wit to the proceedings, starting with the figure of Sylvester Stallone…. The movie is nonetheless pretty bad, and there’s some especially awful razzing between Bobo and his odd-couple partner, an out-of-town cop, Taylor Kwon.”
Still, everyone seems to agree that what makes Bullet To The Head stand out is Sylvester Stallone. Over at the Huffington Post , the guys point out that the actor’s age is a factor:
“A lot of Stallone’s recent movies have this very weird tension with his age. Like Rocky Balboa was about him getting older… but also still giving a young heavyweight a more serious run for his money than he thought. Anyway, he also does The Expendables which seems like it should be about him passing down this legacy to younger stars, but mostly just seems like an excuse for him to leech coolness off young stars while making himself look even tougher, stronger, and badder of ass than them. Which is REALLY what Bullet to the Head is all about.”
What do you think about Bullet To The Head? Do you think Sylvester Stallone is getting too old for these types of movies, or does his age lend to the screenplay?