Bullet to the Head: Film Review

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Did you see The Daily Show on Monday night? If not, let me inform you that guest Bob Costas referenced the movie Bullet to the Head in formulating his well-articulated argument for gun control in America. I had never heard of the movie before Costas mentioned it, so naturally when I found out I was going to review another action movie with Sylvester Stallone as a gun-toting badass, I walked in with my eyes rolling at super speed.

Well, I have to say that it’s not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. For those of you who enjoy brainless, beefy, and brawny movies about 80s action stars getting revenge for the standard issue only-in-the-movie motivations, this is a far more watchable movie than the recent Schwarzenegger mega-bomb The Last Stand.

The credit goes to Sylvester Stallone, who, despite the botched plastic surgery, really knows what he is doing in flicks like these. The menacing grunts and hurling dialogue make him the perennial hulk that audiences love Stallone to play, and he carries it to the hilt as a New Orleans hitman known know as Jimmy Bobo (yes, I laughed too). His partner is killed and so he must avenge his death. That’s all you need to know about the story.

It then goes bam-pow-wham-bam for the last plus one-hour, but it is well-done as far as choreographed action sequences go. As for Bob Costas’s argument, I still wholeheartedly agree. But that doesn’t mean we expect Stallone to start acting in period costume dramas with Daniel Day Lewis and Dame Judi Dench. Even Adrian wouldn’t approve of that.