The Gunman

Was bewog Sean Penn dazu, nach Oscar-Schauspielleistungen und der Regie von Into the Wild die Rolle eines Actionhelden anzunehmen und sich an der Produktion zusammen mit Joel Silver zu beteiligen? Ein Honorar, das sich einst ein anderer Charakterdarsteller Liam Neeson überhaupt nicht vorstellen konnte und jetzt solche Summen dreimal pro Jahr bekommt? The Gunman möchte keinen modernen Stil haben, er möchte dreckig und düster sein und einen uneindeutig reinen Haupthelden zeigen. Mir persönlich gefällt diese Richtung und mit Penns Figur habe ich auch kein Problem. Im Gegenteil – er ist der einzige Aspekt, dank dem der Film interessant ist und dank dem er sich von anderen Genre-Geschwistern abhebt, weil er sonst nicht interessanter ist als sie. Das Drehbuch wirkt so, als ob es vor zwanzig Jahren geschrieben wurde, in der Zeit von Fords Jack Ryan (damals wäre er seine interessante "düstere Alternative“). Und er hält sich hauptsächlich unnötig mit der romantischen Linie auf, welche die Zuschauer*innen bei dem Geschehen ringsherum nicht interessiert. (26.03.2015)

A B-movie filmed as an A-movie. Sean Penn is incredibly fit for his age and the action scenes are some of the best of this genre, but there are too few of them and you can’t enjoy them properly when the hero starts keeling over prematurely due to brain damage. And when we’re on the topic of laying down, the romantic storyline with the love triangle seems like it’s been copied out of a textbook - reminiscent of French movies of the 70s. The acting aces (why does Bardem always have that look on his face?) are almost unused (Idris Elba made a more or less a cameo appearance) and Penn doesn’t put on a very impressive performance despite his damaged character. This terribly average story with such realistically unpleasant characters was probably impossible to save. And the shamelessly stilted finale was impressive only for the location. It’s one of those unshocking, but uninspiring movie that you might watch on TV, but paying to see it at the movie theater would be a waste of money. Both Morel and Penn can do better. (21.03.2015)

A thoroughbred Hollywood action flick with a good cast, exotic enough and formally classy, and with a hero that’s impossible not to root for. But at the same time, everything feels so overly ambitious, super-cleverly conspiratorial and wannabe bold that it ended up irritating rather than entertaining me. Penn is OK, but Bardem is miscast in the worst role of his career so far, while Idris Elba should be compensated by the filmmakers for wasting his precious talent. The script is also out of place, unfortunately. It pretends to be an exotic B-movie within the thematic framework of Three Days of the Condor, but with secondary motifs that are uninteresting, a tone-deaf and a romantic storyline that doesn’t work very well, while the identity of the villain will be clear to any dork around the 20th minute. Everything is saved by the expertly executed and exciting action sequences that make us feel, at least at times, in really expensive company... 55% (11.01.2016)

Something between Payback and Blood Diamond. There's the same politics and disputes over a country's mineral wealth, as well as a love triangle that doesn't quite work and is rather secondary. Maybe it's not as romantic or grand, but I don't expect any wilderness from Pierre Morel, rather a story that has pace and doesn't bother with unnecessary digressions that would hinder quality action – and that's exactly what I got. I haven't seen Sean Penn this loaded before, and it's quite nice, with dynamic, proper and well edited action and an excellent final fight. I wouldn't hesitate to say it's a solid addition to the genre. Definitely nothing new what do you really expect from Morel? (21.03.2015)

As long as I tried to connect Rambo-like amicable repentance, financial tricks, empty love triangles, and Jim's own past, The Gunman held my attention with one hand and cut off branches with more and more characters with the other. But after leaving the cinema, the impressions of the action disintegrate into mere contemplation of how Sean Penn can pump up muscles like this after fifty and why Idris Elba appeared only when the film was almost ending. Unfortunately, Pierre Morel is also a man worth shooting, who proves that 96 Hours was the peak of his career, after which he is merely going downhill. (18.03.2015)