Killing Gunther

I watched the whole thing. Arnold has limited screen time but the whole thing is entertaining. At least it entertained me on my flight to Vegas. I mean what did you expect?

Killing Arnold

This film could have been so much better if Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the film through out it as opposed to just squished in at the end as some grand reveal. Plus as you already know the trailer spoils the heck out of the Schwarzenegger reveal, but you can't blame the trailer because they knew people would be more likely to watch a B-film if they knew a big star was in it. Long story short, editing hurts the film.

I love assassin movies. The best thing I can say about this movie is I did watch the whole thing without shutting it off.

95% of the movie follows a documentary crew who is hired to follow a team of assassins. They are trying to kill the worlds greatest hit-man, a guy named Gunther (Played by Arnold.) One or two of the assassins are amusing but most of the jokes fall flat and the movies ends up being pretty tedious as a result. I honestly wanted to like it but the writing is pretty bad, the action is laughable (but not in a good way) and what could be an interesting premise is wasted.

The best part of the movie is Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is the only actor in the movie that feels like a real actor, which is crazy because he's know more for his action abilities than his acting abilities. Sadly, Arnie is only in about 5% of the movie and the rest of the time viewers are stuck with a mediocre cast. At the very least I give Arnold credit for making the most of his role. (Although I bet he only was on set for a week.) Even though this is a comedy movie and not a true story I was disappointed by the lack of internal consistency. Basically Gunther (Arnie's character)is capable of performing assassinations that defy all logic and explanation. I would have rather him been a very good assassin who is human, rather than a super-powered baddie who can apparently bend the laws of time and space.

I acknowledge that there was a decent idea here. Unfortunately it didn't work out and I'm surprised Arnold agreed to appear in this movie. I'm guessing most of the budget was spent on his salary, otherwise his presence makes no sense to me.

Sadly, I cannot recommend this movie, unless you are a huge Schwarzenegger fan and you love the idea of an assassin comedy (and you smoke enough pot that you are able to suspend disbelief in the face of the ridiculous and are able to laugh at jokes that aren't really funny.) Sober viewers should probably skip this one.

My advice: if you are about to see this, start with low expectations and don't expect too many scenes with Arnold. All scenes with him are just hilarious and will reward you if you're an Arnie-fan.

This movie definitely does not try to take itself serious. It is a nicely shot comedy, with action and familiar faces.

And has a great ending accompanied with even greater ending credits.

Wait and listen to the ending credits songs and you will be positively surprised.

8/10 for the effort and the truly funny moments with Arnold.

Is it utterly ridiculous? Absolutely. But there were plenty of laugh out loud moments, and that's the most important thing in a comedy, no?

Give it 15 minutes, if you haven't laughed by then it's not for you...but I have a feeling you'll be laughing.