Hey gang, Valkor here. Sylvester Stallone has been keeping pretty busy these days; with the success of the first two Expendables films, he's on the hook for making a third with a few names that'll make that film a definite draw; Wesley Snipes, Jackie Chan AND possibly Mel Gibson? TAKE MY MONEY PLEASE!! But That film is a ways off, so until then, to get my fill of all things Sly, the folks are putting out a Blu-Ray combo of Stallone's latest flick – Bullet to the Head. Yea that'll hold me over till then. Spoilers ahead.
In Bullet to the Head, Sylvester Stallone (Rambo, The Expendables) plays hitman James Bonomo aka "Jimmy Bobo", whom he and his partner Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda) perform a hit on ex-cop gone corrupt Hank Greeley (Holt McCallany). The hit goes off almost successfully, save for one the hooker Greeley was gonna bone, who Jimmy let live. The two go off to celebrate and in the process, Louis is taken out by another hitman named Keegan (Jason Momoa). Keegan goes after Jimmy, the two get into a scuffle but Jimmy gets the upper hand. Turns out the whole ordeal was a double cross, but who's responsible?
Enter Detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang). He's able to quickly piece together the connection between the dead Louis and the dead ex-cop Greeley, linking them both back to Jimmy. While on the beat he's suddenly hunted down by two cops; he's able to take out one, but the other is surprisingly taken out by Jimmy who runs him down (the two met briefly prior to this moment). Now Jimmy and Kwon must work together to piece together whatever clues they can lockdown to track down the baddies who're responsible for this entire mess. All clues lead to crippled entrepreneur Robert Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje - G.I. Joe), who's evil plan is to ultimately destroy a city block to make room for condos and strip malls, with cops and politicians all on the take. Sounds dastardly!
There's no big secret how this film will end, but it's worth mentioning that a couple of other names make an appearance such as Christian Slater (Sacrifice) as Marcus Baptiste who spills the beans when threatened with violence. And then there's Sarah Shahi who play's Jimmy's tattoo artist daughter Lisa (nice brief nudity).
Bullet to the Head gets the Combo Pack treatment in that you get the BD (Blu-Ray), DVD, and the UltraViolet digital copy to watch on your computer, smartphone, or tablet. You get one extra and that's a behind the scene featurette titled "Bullet to the Head: Mayhem Inc".
The Good:
While Bullet to the Head is not on the same over-the-top level as Sly's "The Expendables" series, it still does a pretty good job of stitching together a decent storyline with a hefty dose of action and dry sense of humor. The plot, again, is decent stringing together a tale of corruption and revenge, with just a few twist s to keep things interesting but nothing that'll floor you. However you'll come for the story but you'll stay for the action and Bullet to the Head has loads of it; bullets are constantly flying, bodies are getting tossed about, fist fly, and things go boom. Yea... I enjoyed this ride. As far as acting goes, I think Sly does a fairly decent job of mumbling his way through this one. But if you've ever followed his previous films, you don't dive in wanting to see him act – you either wanna see him beat people up, shoot up some baddies, and/or blow up stuff up and here he does all three. I loved it! Sung Kang is pretty good as straight-shooter Detective Kwon; maybe he plays it a little too clean, but still does an impressive job. Jason Momoa is such a bad ass; he walks into a room full of thugs and doesn't afraid of anything! he simply takes them out. And that final fight scene between him and Sly, where they duel with axes – AXES!!? Oh man, that was sweet! And finally, Sarah Shahi doesn't let down – I don't mean her acting (which is good), she just looks really good doing her part. I can't count how many times I rewound that bathtub scene… oof, maybe one time too many… In the end Bullet to the Head is just what the doctor ordered – ten CCs of action, explosions, and blood and bodies flying everywhere.
The Bad:
I loved the action but the fight scenes are edited to quickly with the camera in too tight, so some of the fight scenes go by too quickly. Thankfully it's not on the same dizzying level as say Batman Begins, but it's still too quick. You'll also have to listen very closely to some of Sly's dialogue as you can miss a word… or a phrase…
The Ugly:
Baptiste takes a bullet to the… well you know.
Bullet to the Head is a no-brainer, buddy action flick that's meant to fill your need of bullets, bombs, and babes. Believe me I've sat through cheesier action films than this and this film in particular ranks well above them. Is it worth checking out? Why not! I recommend it. And you can on it on Blu-Ray Combo pack on July 16th. And out of TOV 5 stars, I'm giving Bullet to the head a 4.
