2 Guns 2013

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: They're cute together, these two big stars, but the film around them, a sort of Tarantino lite, is desperately empty. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: This is what some summer movies should be like - clever in a stupid way, and stupid in a clever way. Read more

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press: For each amusing exchange, there's a gratuitous scene that dampens the proceedings. One of the worst involves the torture of chickens. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: A slick, slippery thriller that taps into the anarchic playfulness that made the best American action flicks of the 1980s and '90s pop. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Mr. Kormakur stages a succession of action sequences that are satisfying in their own right and might be better still if they were part of a coherent whole. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Thousands of rounds of ammo are spent in 2 Guns, a brutal, complicated and sporadically funny movie that still seems slight. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: Despite its A-list stars, "2 Guns" is a subpar B-movie shoot-'em-up that's lackadaisical, cynical and slow. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: Kormakur shows he knows his way around an action movie better than most, keeping the pace quick, the banter lively and the old-school, mostly CGI-free thrills delivering right on schedule. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, AV Club: On almost every level, 2 Guns is content to be as flavorless and forgettable as its title. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: You could do far worse than watch Washington and Wahlberg bicker for a couple of hours, pausing every now and then to plug somebody. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: What's the old expression about putting lipstick on a pig? "2 Guns," a busy and bullet-riddled new action movie, has some mighty fine lipstick, but it's still a porker. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Mark Wahlberg reunites with Contraband director Baltasar Kormakur for an action movie that's even more cynical and sadistic than its predecessor. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: He has talent, this director: "2 Guns" isn't necessarily my thing (the jokey sadism is a drag), but Kormakur lays out an action sequence with a swiftness and a coherence missing from many other pictures. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: It's essentially a buddy-cop romp with the usual assortment pack of graphic gruesomeness. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: The biggest guns this action flick brandishes are stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg who have very different acting styles that work surprisingly well together. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Banter, banter, banter. It's such fun being a tough guy and killing people. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: In a summer when so many of the hype-heavy movies turned out to be big-budget bores, it's refreshing when a movie like 2 Guns achieves its admittedly modest ambitions. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Goosed along by a pulpy Elmore Leonard vibe, 2 Guns is essentially a B movie classed up by its two A-list stars. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: If we're being honest, Baltasar Kormakur's 2 Guns beats present-day Walter Hill at his own game. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Washington and Wahlberg have a good time robbing banks and blowing up buildings and barreling through military security checkpoints and double-crossing people and shooting each other because none of it really means anything. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Charm makes up for ludicrous plotting in twist-heavy crime story. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Though individual set pieces are well done, the film inevitably leaves an empty taste behind it once it's done. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: An unremarkable, standard-issue shoot-em-up that rests entirely on the charisma of its two stars. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: It's a jumbled film with a lazy plot and poorly sketched action sequences, but the natural charm of its two stars, along with some colorful bit players, may put you in a forgiving mood. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: For a movie with so many dead bodies, there's still something strangely lively about "2 Guns" - a film which is certainly too much, and often too confusing, but never, ever too dull. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: 2 Guns loses its charm amid multiple incidents of torture and brutality, including animal cruelty ... Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Pure charisma is sometimes the best special effect. That's what Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg bring to 2 Guns, and after a season full of superhero duds, they deliver a crucial dose of cool. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Just go ahead and assume that everybody is trying to kill everybody and you'll be relatively clear. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: 2 Guns slops over with instantly over-familiar ingredients like bantering criminal and/or crime-fighting buddies, a loathsome Mexican drug lord, and a femme vitale and femme fatale rolled into one comely dame. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The Wahlberg-Washington express hits lots of comfortably familiar notes. And more than a few viciously uncomfortable ones, too. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Fast pacing and a high energy level can cover a lot of sins, and nowhere is that more evident than in 2 Guns. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: Beyond ridiculous but always entertaining. Washington and Wahlberg are terrific. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: I really meant to at least like 2 Guns. But I couldn't. The movie just didn't make the extra effort. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: If you're craving some irresponsible and amoral old-school August cinema, with no redeeming social value beyond the message that our government has gone insane and we're all totally screwed, you won't be let down. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's a complete mess, the spectacle of filmmakers blowing up their movie and everything in it, because they can't think of anything else to do. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: With the combined heat of its stars, "2 Guns" should have had double impact, but Washington and Wahlberg are only doing this tango for cash. Read more

Adam Nayman, Globe and Mail: That a movie this fleet and lean succumbs to action-blockbuster bloat in the home stretch is both disappointing and predictable, although the director deserves credit for keeping the climactic shootouts slick and spatially coherent. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Gets us from point A to point B in a journey that, while predictable, is a breezily pleasant ride. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Kormakur could have removed some wackiness and made a gritty action movie or toned down the viciousness and played this off for comedy, but as it is, 2 Guns is neither fish nor fowl. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: In this star vehicle for Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, the headlights are on full beam but the engine is struggling in second gear. Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Quickly degenerates into boilerplate Hollywood sound and fury, complete with a climactic Mexican standoff that revolves around a massive, burning pile of money. Irony, thou art lost. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: All you need for a movie are two guys and two guns. Unless that movie is 2 Guns, in which case you probably need a good deal more. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "2 Guns" feels like it's all been done before, whether by John Woo, Michael Bay or any number of their CGI-happy clones. Read more