2 Guns (2013)

Directed by: Baltasar Kormákur
Country: USA

Review: Icelandic filmmaker Baltasar Kormákur left his origin country once again towards Hollywood to present “2 Guns”, an action film that lacks charm, steadiness, and originality. I personally find his Icelandic films much more involving (“101 Reykjavik”, “Jar City”, “The Deep”) than the American productions (“Inhale”, “Contraband”), and “2 Guns”, based on a graphic novel by Steven Grant, only confirms that high budgets don’t necessarily mean better results. The story follows Bobby Trench (Denzel Washington) and Michael Stigman (Mark Whalberg in his second participation in a Kormákur’s film), two undercover agents impersonating crooks without the knowledge of each other, wanting to grab a great amount of money that supposedly belongs to a drug lord. Although cooperative, the two agents showed some rivalry, since Trench belonged to DEA and Stigman to the Navy. The film tries to mix violent action scenes with funny dialogues (most of them missed), and adopted a conventional approach that is very far from being stylish or enthusiastic. The insipid and messy plot, presented very few believable aspects, and the movie loses itself in uninteresting shootings and tawdry situations. “2 Guns” didn’t work for me, and I just hope that a talented director such as Kormákur returns as soon as possible to the inspired cinema, preferentially in Icelandic.