Countdown Begins…

So I know this is very cliché and very expected, but you know what…? I’m going to do it anyway. For the next five days, I will be counting down my top five favorite movies of 2013. As we go into 2014, just would like to take a few minutes of your time and reflect on what I considered best of the best this year. A lot of other critics will probably suggest the Oscar contenders, but we both know that unless it wins Best Picture, most people are not going to see those films. Sad… but true.

As I have mentioned in my previous post 2013 was riddled with a lot of sequels and overly used special FX films. So I tried to weed out some of them and try and find some movies that may have been overlooked due to this fact. Did I leave out all of the sequels or summer blockbusters from this list? Guess you’ll just have to see…

#5:

 2 Guns

I’m starting off this list with a contradiction to my previous post, but 90% of the world does not realize that this film is actually based on a graphic novel. I will fully admit that I am a part of that 90% and I only found out afterward, when I searched Wikipedia.  

A little background on the reference material, 2 Guns is a graphic novel by writer Steve Grant (Avengers, Incredible Hulk) and artist Mateus Santolouco (some obscure DC books). The books were written and put together specifically to be a graphic novel. I have read it and, of course, liked the book better than the movie, but we will get into that another day.

Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg star as Robert Trench and Michael Stigman respectively. Trench is an undercover DEA agent and Stigman is an undercover Naval Intelligence Officer. Neither, Trench nor Stigman, are aware of what the other really is. The two decide that it would be a good idea to rob about $3 million from a drug cartel that both are investigating at the same time. When the job is done they find that they don’t have just $3 million, they have $43 million. Trench and Stigman now have to figure out where the extra $40 million came from and who it belongs to before they wind up dead or wind up killing each other.

First and foremost what I liked about this film is the chemistry that Washington and Wahlberg have on screen. It was really fun watching the two play off each other so seamlessly. Is this an Oscar worthy turn for either one of these actors…no, however they do a decent job with the material. I will say that the one person that is overlooked in this movie is Bill Paxton. Paxton portrays a CIA operative on the trail of the stolen $43 million and he is a little vicious at it too. Let’s be real, Paxton is an a$$hole in this film and is very good at it. The only person in this film that I wasn’t a fan of was Paula Patton. Patton’s Deb is Trench’s girlfriend and fellow DEA agent. She just comes across as almost awkward at times and not really sure why she is even in the film. Deb is kind of integral to the movie, but as I said, she just didn’t seem like she wanted to be there.

Baltasar Kormákur serves as the director of the film. May not know the name but you may know his other American film Contraband. This film also stars Wahlberg; however Contraband is a lot more serious and not as well done. Kormákur takes a bit lighter direction with 2 Guns and it seems to work out better. I will not be surprised if Kormákur starts to make a name for himself here in the States. He, even in Contraband, has a way with violence and action sequences. Remember this name folks, or at least try to.

For those of you out there that is looking to follow the comeback trend of classic action movies (i.e. Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, and so on…) then 2 Guns is very worth checking out. If not for the action, then at least see these two actors pull off something that is worthy of Riggs and Murtaugh.

Verdict: Worth Your Time!