Bullet to the Head (2013)

People are voting emotionally.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I made the mistake of watching this piece of garbage on Film4 last night. A severe mistake indeed. Walter Hill as director - that was supposed to be a promising start, but no. Never have I seen such an enormous collection of clichés, coupled with bad direction, worse writing and even more horrific acting. Totally unnatural lines all over the place, with vaguely sketched characters "explaining" the plot to their henchmen or to the "cops" in never ending monologues. Stallone tries to sound cool and hip by delivering faux Mike Hammer lines, but fails epically. He never was a good actor, but here he just looks like a poster boy for bad wigs. Avoid this film like the plague!

I liked what they were going for with "Bullet to the Head", but not how they went about it. Stallone and retro seem to go hand-in-hand, and the name Walter Hill has its own cachet to contribute to such an enterprise. But it doesn't have much in the way of characterization, plotting or setting. It could happen anywhere, but just so happens to be set in New Orleans, while the revenge angle is robbed of emotion; very businesslike. All I really knew to expect from this was the axe fight between Stallone and Momoa, the centerpiece of the trailers. But by the time it finally happened in the movie, I'd already checked out.There's nothing really bad about this, but it never rises above passable. In that respect, it reminded me of the "Get Carter" remake. 5/10

James 'Jimmy Bobo' Bonomo is a hit-man working with his partner in New Orleans, here always referred to as 'Crescent City'. After their latest job, killing a corrupt cop from Washington DC, they go to get paid but things don't go to plan; somebody kills Jimmy's partner and tries to kill him. Meanwhile DC cop Taylor Kwon is in town investigating what happened to his former colleague and why. He quickly realises that Jimmy was involved and contacts him suggesting that they work together to find out who was ultimately behind the hit. Jimmy isn't initially keen to work with a cop but eventually they form an uneasy temporary alliance and start working their way up the criminal food chain. It won't be easy for them there are corrupt local cops trying to kill them as well as the bad guys.This is hardly a classic film but if you are a fan of the genre it passes the time well enough. The central partnership is entertaining precisely because Jimmy and Taylor have no real chemistry; they both dislike what the other stands for. There is plenty of exciting action; the best being an axe fight between Jimmy and the man who killed his partner. The story is solid enough although there are no real surprises. Sylvester Stallone is solid enough as Jimmy and Sung Kang is pretty good as Taylor. The rest of the cast are perfectly fine, notably Christian Slater who is fun as a sleazy lawyer; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the man behind everything; Sarah Shahi as Jimmy's daughter who gets caught up in the events and Jason Momoa as a hit-man who enjoys his work a little too much. Overall this is a decent enough way to pass the time if you are fan of the genre but not really a must see unless you are a Stallone completist.

Sylvester Stallone was currently enjoying an Indian summer of stardom thanks to his return to Rambo and the Expendables franchise, plus his much praised role in the last Rocky movie, when he signed up to make this movie. Plot In A Paragaph: After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hit-man (Sly Stallone) and a Washington D.C. detective (Sung Kang) team up in order to bring down their common enemy. This is one of his movies where Stallone's ego and interfering for in the way of a potentially good movie. Wayne Kramer was originally hired to direct. However after clashing with Stallone over the tone of the film, he left the production and was replaced by Walter Hill. From this point both Stallone and Hill performed uncredited re-writes on the screenplay.Thomas Jane was brought into the project by original director Wayne Kramer. When Kramer left the project, Jane suggested Sylvester Stallone to hire Walter Hill. After Hill took over directorial duties, Joel Silver came on board the project and fired Jane because he wanted an ethnic guy for the other lead role. Sung Kang was subsequently cast.Whilst I don't hate this movie, it's not as good as it could have been. I did like the score Jason Moma is a menacing villain, Sarah Shahi is attractive with a nice bum and Stallone is always worth watching, but it just doesn't come together. Walter Hill directed some decent movies and Sly Stallone has starred in some decent stand alone movies. This isn't one of them. Stallone remains watchable as always but these are not ninety of his better minutes