Bullet to the Head (2013)

6/8/18. If you like mindless action and Stallone, then this one is for you. The story is pretty simplistic, not hard to follow.

Bullet to the Head (2012) ** (out of 4)James Bonomo (Sylvester Stallone) is a professional hitman who pulls a job with his partner. Later that night he is attacked and his partner is killed so he teams up with a Detective (Sung Kang) to find out who placed the hit on him.Walter Hill's BULLET TO THE HEAD just seems very old. I say that because Hill has been working this genre for decades and we all know that the same is true for Stallone. The two men have created some of the best actions movies out there but sadly them teaming up did nothing because the film itself is just rather lousy and feels as if both are just going through the motions.To say I was disappointed in this film would be an understatement. As I said, both Hill and Stallone have done so many good things that one would have hoped that by teaming up we'd get some sort of fun action picture but we don't. There are several issues with the film but the biggest thing is the fact that there's really nothing new here.We've seen this story done countless times before and much better. We've seen these type of action scenes before and much better. There's absolutely no chemistry between Stallone and Kang, which really kills the attempt at a buddy picture and of course we've seen that before. In fact, I thought Kang was incredibly dull here and brought nothing to the picture. Christian Slater has a thankless role but Sarah Shahi and Jason Momoa at least bring a little life.BULLET TO THE HEAD didn't even seem like a theatrical film as it felt like a direct-to-video release. The movie isn't awful by any stretch of the imagination but there's just very little life here and even less entertainment. It seems like an elderly movie trying to fit in on a new crowd and it just doesn't work.

"Bullet to the Head" is a slam-bang, hard-boiled crime film about a rogue cop (Sylvester Stallone) who long ago turned hit man. If you are a fan of this type of film, I highly suggest you take a look. High body count! Action scenes well staged. A straight-ahead action film. No BS romance stuff. Regarding reviews stating Stallone cannot act, they miss the point. Stallone is an actor yes, good or bad. But more importantly, he is an on-screen presence. A force of nature. When Stallone is on screen, you look at him. Few actors (Eastwood, Bronson, Lawrence Tierney come to mind) had the same charisma.

I liked what they were going for with "Bullet to the Head", but not how they went about it. Stallone and retro seem to go hand-in-hand, and the name Walter Hill has its own cachet to contribute to such an enterprise. But it doesn't have much in the way of characterization, plotting or setting. It could happen anywhere, but just so happens to be set in New Orleans, while the revenge angle is robbed of emotion; very businesslike. All I really knew to expect from this was the axe fight between Stallone and Momoa, the centerpiece of the trailers. But by the time it finally happened in the movie, I'd already checked out.There's nothing really bad about this, but it never rises above passable. In that respect, it reminded me of the "Get Carter" remake. 5/10