#69 2 GUNS

Do you know what makes this film special?

It's not that it stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, it's not because the director is called  Baltasar Kormákur. Nor is it because it has the always good-for-value, Bill Paxton playing the villain (brilliantly I might add!) And it's not that the film's only female, Paula Patton gets her puppies out. No sir! It's because it's only 109 minutes long! That's a short film these days! It means you can drink a big Cola Zero and not have to sneak out for a pee half-way through. How fantastic is that, a film that doesn't outstay its welcome, this means it's got a director who's happy to be edited, what a delight. I wonder what else this Icelandic actor, producer and director has done? Gosh, that other Marky Mark 'classic', Contraband.

So, what's it about, David? Since you asked so nicely I tell you. It's about these two blokes who both seem to be gangsters (but are they...) who rob a bank expecting a haul of 3 million but end up with a take of 43 in stead. Now it seems that the money belongs not to the Texas drug baron they expected but a very peeved, Bill Paxton - sporting a very nifty pork-pie-hat as a psycho gangster king pin (or is he...). What follows is twist upon twist upon cross and double cross as our two heroes stumble from one outlandish shoot-out to the next all the way up the food chain to the top via car chases, gun battles and explosions all the while dealing with rogue elements of the US Navy, the ICA and corrupt lawmen.

This is billed as a comedy action film those the use of the word 'comedy' might be over doing it a tad. That's not to say this is a bad film, it's not, far from it! It's great fun thanks in no small part to the terrific chemistry between the two leads, I've not seen Marky Mark this much fun since his turn in the Other Guys. it's a shame he keeps succumbing to the films like Contraband and Broken City, where his himbo persona lets him down, in films like this, where he's having fun he's always a hoot.

This is all sadly let down by a rushed ending and the inability for our heroes to get shot, unless it's by each other.

7/10