It’s been 11 years since Walter Hill (The Warriors) directed a full length feature but now the man is back with a vengeance with an adaptation of Alexis Nolent’s graphic novel, Bullet to the Head. The action/thriller stars Sylvester Stallone as Jimmy Bobo, a hitman whose most recent hit took a turn for the worse when the guy who hired him decided to try and close the loop by taking Bobo and his partner out. When D.C. Detective Taylor Kwan (Sung Kang) comes to town to investigate the murder of his former partner, the two form a highly unlikely alliance as they try to hunt down the guys who killed their partners.
“Don’t trust anybody, that’s how you stay alive.” These are the words (or most of them) Jimmy Bobo lives by and, as we follow him and Kang on their adventure, it couldn’t ring more true. The entire movie is full of backstabbing, “I told you so” moments, explosions, “how many times do I have to tell you” moments and some killing. It’s a circle of strategic violence derived from a cop and a criminal being at odds with each other when it comes to their respective methods of catching the bad guys. Basically, Kang is only useful for informational purposes, it isn’t until the end when he actually steps up like a badass. It’s clear from the get-go that this is Stallone’s show and every time Kang gets smart, Stallone puts him in his place like a professional hit man should, especially when the cops Kang is dealing with are dirty; it’s a wonderful thing to watch.
Walter Hill’s film is very rough around the edges. Though he’s been producing during his directorial absence, the guy is using this movie to shake out all the rust and it clearly shows. He should have seen how forced and cheesy some of Alessandro Camon’s dialogue was on set and had it altered because it makes the movie come off like a television cop drama; it was laughable and frustrating at times.
Despite some of the faulty dialogue, there is a good of stuff to enjoy from Bullet to the Head. For example, Bobo is like a younger Clint Eastwood from Gran Torino, he’ comically racist towards Asians and it gets the crowd every time. It’s the dynamic between Sly and Kang that, while annoying,
drives a lot of the humor in the film. Another fine aspect is the matchup of Jason Momoa as the physical villain against Stallone, even though Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is the actual villain, the brains behind the killings. The battles between Sly and Momoa are beastly and get you pretty amped, especially when they battle it out with fire axes. The last, and probably the greatest, part about the movie is its soundtrack. The film has a heavy, southern blues/rock score splashed throughout that sets the pace, tone and style for the movie which, in the end, makes it a lot more fun to watch because you can tap your feet to it.
So how does it hold up to Arnold’s recent film? Well, Bullet to the Head isn’t necessarily as fun or funny as The Last Stand, but it has a better story, gets right to the point, and has slightly better acting. Is it the best action/thriller of the year? By no means is it, but it’s a pretty decent R rated time at the movies if you want to see Sly kicking ass, blood splattering and bullets flying directly into their targets.
Rating: A decent action/thriller that has a few good tricks up its sleeve (6/10)
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