Dir. McG
Cast: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Richard Sammel,
Reviewed by Matt Adcock
Read the Newspaper version of this review at: The Advertiser & Review
"My job is to hunt terrorists.
I don't negotiate.
Within three days, I will find you.
You can start counting."
Meet Ethan Renner (Kevin ‘Man of Steel’ Costner), a grizzled, aging CIA hit man who is one of the best out there. The black ops and ‘wet work’ for his country has however taken its toll on his family life though – his estranged wife Christine (Connie Gladiator’ Nielsen) has virtually given up on him and his teenage daughter Zooey (Hailee ‘Enders Game’ Steinfeld) can no longer bring herself to call him ‘dad’.
What’s a man to do? Well, when diagnosed with terminal brain cancer Renner decides to put the killing behind him and try to make up with his family. Alas ultra vixen CIA operative Vivi Delay (Amber ‘All The Boys Love Mandy Lane’ Heard), has other ideas and tempts him to take a final assignment – to kill an arms dealing scumbag known as ‘The Wolf’ in exchange for an experimental drug that might just extend his life…
That’s all you need to know about the plot – as even before the opening credits, 3 Days To Kill has delivered a superb gun fight, some nasty kills and a botched ‘happy birthday’ phone call. And the action doesn’t really let up thanks to this coming from the team behind Taken and being written by Luc ‘Leon: The Professional’ Besson.
"Amber Heard - not a nun"
Director Mc ‘Terminator Salvation’ G isn’t known for being a classy director but he surprises here – this is his first non Hollywood flick – and manages to blend the disparate elements of family drama and brutal torture and killing effectively. The glue that holds the car chasing, beating and shooting together with the adjusting to help a teen daughter with her social life is a sharp vein of dark humour.
Costner is good value in the lead (the dangerous father figure suits him even more than it did Neeson in Taken). The bad guys include a rent-a-psycho albino (Tómas Lemarquis) and of course The Wolf (Richard ‘Casino Royale’ Samuel) – along with many disposable henchmen which it is fun watching Costner stylishly dispatch.
"say goodbye"
Then of course there is Amber Heard who sizzles every time she’s on screen and Steinfeld who gives good teenage angst.
"Mother / daughter time"
3 Days To Kill delivers a fun, action packed cinematic thrill ride – perfect Friday night material.
Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:
öööö
(4 - not to be 'TAKEN' for granted!?)
Awesomeness öööö – tasty action set pieces a go go
Laughs ööö – lots of mirth (not all if it works)
Horror öö – little bit grim for a 12a
Babes ööööö – AMBER HEARD!
Spiritual Enlightenment ö - dubious morals
Recommended Hashtags: #3DayToThrill
"Miss Heard does brunette too"
No comments:
Post a Comment