Bullet to the Head

Bullet to the Head – Dir. Walter Hill (2013)

Is the time of the big name action star over? Try as hard as they might, guys like Jason Statham and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will never be the heirs apparent to Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone. That’s okay because those muscle-bound matinee idols are still kicking, even if their luster has faded over the years. Arnold returned to his first starring role in over a decade with The Last Stand, which already seems to have disappeared from theaters weeks after release. Bruce Willis will return to the franchise that made him a bankable name with A Good Day to Die Hard. After having fun with the ensemble Expendables pictures, Stallone goes it solo for Bullet to the Head, which is loosely based on a French graphic novel.

Stallone isn’t the only old-timer returning to the fold. Bullet to the Head marks the return of Walter Hill, one of the stalwarts of the 80’s era. Hill hasn’t directed a feature film since 2002’s Undisputed and hasn’t helmed anything of significance since 1996’s underrated Last Man Standing. Hill’s resume includes The Warriors, Extreme Prejudice, Streets of Fire, and The Driver. He also has a memorable comedy under his belt in Brewster’s Millions with Richard Pryor. To top it off, the prolific Joel Silver is counted among the producers. Silver was a producer on classic action pictures such as Predator, Commando, Die Hard, 48 Hrs. (also directed by Hill), and the Lethal Weapon franchise with the latter two being prime examples of the buddy formula. That same formula is in full effect with Bullet to the Head, so much so that Silver replaced Thomas Jane with Sung Kang because one of the leads had to be a minority.

Stallone is Jimmy Bonomo aka Jimmy Bobo, an experienced hitman in New Orleans. He’s a nice hitman though because he doesn’t kill women or children. Bobo and his partner Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda) are having a few drinks at a redneck bar after taking out a coked up Hank Greely (Holt McCallany). The celebration is cut short when a hulking mercenary named Keegan (Jason Momoa) kills Louis while Bobo narrowly escapes. Greely used to be a cop in D.C. before turning dirty and his former partner, Taylor Kwon (Kang), arrives in town to investigate his murder. Kwon and Bobo form a shaky partnership and their mission leads them to Robert Nkomo Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a ruthless African businessman, and his sniveling lawyer Marcus Baptiste (Christian Slater).

Stallone gives exactly the type of performance you expect from him, all stoic and badass as he mows down a succession of villains. Poor Sung Kang is given the thankless role of sidekick who gets to be on the receiving end of insulting nicknames like Confucius and Oddjob. Stallone gets the spotlight for the majority of the action as Kang stands off in the corner with his hands in his pockets. The most emotion he’s allowed to show is indignation whenever Bobo brutally kills someone. His biggest contribution is his Blackberry, which allows him to call headquarters to magically give him the location and pertinent info on every suspect in their sights. Of course, Bobo doesn’t appreciate all that newfangled technology. His idea of Google is breaking a guy’s legs.

The screenplay by Alessandro Camon (who also wrote The Messenger) sticks rigidly with genre conventions. It introduces Bobo’s beautiful and tattooed daughter, Lisa (Sarah Shahi), knowing full well Keegan will kidnap her just in time for a climatic confrontation. That showdown will take place in an abandoned warehouse because all bad guys have to have an abandoned warehouse. The bad guy also has to be foreign with a sinister accent that shows when he explains his evil schemes in laborious detail. The McGuffin in Bullet to the Head involves a folder (and later a flash drive) containing incriminating evidence that must be destroyed. This is the kind of movie that doesn’t concern itself with the fact that these items could be easily copied and distributed.

Hill directs the action with an old-school feel. Bullets rip through bodies with a healthy compliment of spraying blood. The editing gets a little too frenetic during the inevitable fight sequence between Stallone and Momoa. Hill does manage to set a noir-ish mood to the proceedings and captures the atmosphere of New Orleans, which has quickly become a Mecca for low-rent action movies. The Big Easy is to shoot ‘em ups what Bulgaria is to Sci-Fi Channel movies of the week.

Bullet to the Head is exactly the kind of actioner Stallone used to make during his glory days. It doesn’t come close to matching the quality of First Blood or Demolition Man, but it does linger right there with Cobra or Tango and Cash.

Rating: ** (*****)