When "3 Days to Kill" throws down a punch, it throws it down. However, it is not clear whether it wants to be an action movie or a family drama.
The film opens up to a mission in which CIA agents Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) and Vivi Delay (Amber Heard) have to take out two baddies known as "The Wolf" (Richard Sammel) and "The Albino" (Tómas Lemarquis). They are to do this while some kind of deal happens in a hotel.
Everything goes wrong, and the scene intensifies. Ethan Renner shows his sharp shooting skills as he fires with excellent precision. He is almost invincible in that he always gets out of tight spots.
Kevin Costner does an excellent job at selling himself as this type of hero. He is reminiscent of Liam Neeson in "Taken." There are moments where it seems impossible for him to get out of a particular situation. At the same time it is obvious he will, but how he will is why it is so much fun to watch.
Kevin Costner does an excellent job at selling himself as this type of hero. He is reminiscent of Liam Neeson in "Taken." There are moments where it seems impossible for him to get out of a particular situation. At the same time it is obvious he will, but how he will is why it is so much fun to watch.
Even though he can defeat any bad guy, he has one weakness: sickness. It is this that ensures the bad guys get away. He finds out later that he has cancer, and that he has just a few months to get his affairs in order before he dies.
It is then that the film becomes more of a family drama than an action-espionage film. Being a CIA agent, Renner had left his wife and daughter years ago. Now that he is dying, he wants to reconcile with them. The story ends up being about how he gets to know his daughter, Zoey (Hailee Steinfeld), a troublesome teenage girl with abandonment issues.
While this is happening, he takes a job from Vivi, the CIA agent who was supposed to take out "The Wolf." Her target got away, and now she wants Ethan to do the job. His reward for doing so is an experimental drug that is supposed to prolong his life.
Vivi is the main thing that is wrong with this film. The character is over-the-top and tries to be seductive. Rather than adding a sense of "hotness," she is out-of-place and awkward. She is more of a parody than a believable character. I honestly cannot tell whether this is the fault of the writing, directing or overacting. It is probably all of the above.
A lot of the comedy comes from Ethan trying to get information vital to finding Wolf while bonding with his daughter. There are several scenes in which his daughter calls while he is on the job. The film plays off the fact that those working for the bad guys are normal family men as Ethan asks for their advice on what to do with his daughter.
The reason I have been saying "bad guys" in this review is that is the best way to describe them. They are not meant to be very well developed. In fact, they are usually pretty quiet. The movie focuses less on them and more on how he develops a relationship with his family. The moments he spends with his wife and daughter are hit and miss. Sometimes they are very sweet, and other times his daughter annoys me.
I give this movie four out of five stars. It does have its flaws in that it is not very consistent on what it wants to be. Despite this, it all works together along with some very fun action scenes to make an overall enjoyable film.
Rating: Rated PG-13. There is moderate language. one "F" word is spoken and another one is in subtitles while some characters are speaking another language. There is a lot of action violence throughout, but nothing gory. There are also a few scenes of sensuality. In a couple scenes there is partial nudity showing the top of women's buttocks.
For more details on how I rate films, visit http://criticalchristopher.blogspot.com/2014/01/defining-rating-criteria.html
Follow me on Twitter:@ChrisCampbell02
While this is happening, he takes a job from Vivi, the CIA agent who was supposed to take out "The Wolf." Her target got away, and now she wants Ethan to do the job. His reward for doing so is an experimental drug that is supposed to prolong his life.
Vivi is the main thing that is wrong with this film. The character is over-the-top and tries to be seductive. Rather than adding a sense of "hotness," she is out-of-place and awkward. She is more of a parody than a believable character. I honestly cannot tell whether this is the fault of the writing, directing or overacting. It is probably all of the above.
A lot of the comedy comes from Ethan trying to get information vital to finding Wolf while bonding with his daughter. There are several scenes in which his daughter calls while he is on the job. The film plays off the fact that those working for the bad guys are normal family men as Ethan asks for their advice on what to do with his daughter.
The reason I have been saying "bad guys" in this review is that is the best way to describe them. They are not meant to be very well developed. In fact, they are usually pretty quiet. The movie focuses less on them and more on how he develops a relationship with his family. The moments he spends with his wife and daughter are hit and miss. Sometimes they are very sweet, and other times his daughter annoys me.
I give this movie four out of five stars. It does have its flaws in that it is not very consistent on what it wants to be. Despite this, it all works together along with some very fun action scenes to make an overall enjoyable film.
Rating: Rated PG-13. There is moderate language. one "F" word is spoken and another one is in subtitles while some characters are speaking another language. There is a lot of action violence throughout, but nothing gory. There are also a few scenes of sensuality. In a couple scenes there is partial nudity showing the top of women's buttocks.
For more details on how I rate films, visit http://criticalchristopher.blogspot.com/2014/01/defining-rating-criteria.html
Follow me on Twitter:
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