O Franco-Atirador

I was pleasantly surprised by this film given the negative reception that it had received.

For the most part, the acting ranges from serviceable to good. Sean Penn falls in the latter, as he embodies the typical action hero role in a believable manner. Jasmine Trinca is okay, though to be fair it's not like she's given much to work with from the script. And Javier Bardem has a lot of fun with the role, though at times his acting is more theatrical, and seems like it should be in a different movie. And to those who wish to see the movie solely due to Idris Elba, I have to warn you he's in the movie for about a total of 10 minutes.

The characters aren't particularly deep, and they most certainly all fall within clichés (ex. killer who regrets his past and is trying to make amends), however for the most part I found the characters to be entertaining. Annie was the weakest character as the stereotypical love interest, which hurts the movie as it wants the audience to care about the relationship between her and Terrier.

Just as the characters are all that well fleshed out, neither is the story. It's pretty basic and easy to follow, and the movie goes along the familiar beats of the genre. At first I hated a certain plot point concerning a certain character's head trauma, but it ended up making for a more interesting movie as it helped make a character less invincible and also has a vital affect on the story.

The action is well done, with it being pretty easy to follow and nice to look at. It's not too bombastic, and consist more of hand-to-hand combat, surprise attacks, and use of the environment. I found it very refreshing how both the protagonist and antagonist utilized the environment, as it made the action more interesting and exciting to watch. Terrier also isn't a one man wrecking crew killing 30 guys with no effort; he dispatches some easily, but as the movie goes on, there are times when he meets an equal and is harmed. At the beginning the fights have a bit of shaky cam to them, but that quickly goes away, which ends up working in the movie's favor.

Despite the very standard characters and plot, I had a fun time with this movie. I'd certainly recommend it for anyone who's a huge fan of action, as it's a good way to past the time and have some fun.

Based on the novel The Prone Gunman, by Jean-Patrick Manchette, 'The Gunman' is a decent action-thriller, that's engaging, but only in parts. While the action has sharpness to it, the thriller aspect doesn't entirely work.

'The Gunman' Synopsis: A sniper on a mercenary assassination team, kills the minister of mines of the Congo. Terrier's successful kill shot forces him into hiding. Returning to the Congo years later, he becomes the target of a hit squad himself.

'The Gunman' begins with force, but loses momentum mid-way. I wasn't rooting for the hero on the run, after a point. Also, the identity of the culprit, lacks the bite & offers no shock value. Its predictable to the core. But, the action-sequences work! Not only are they sharply choreographed & executed, they also lend toughness to the narrative.

Don Macpherson, Pete Travis & Sean Penn's Screenplay is okay. Though it isn't without merit, it still isn't powerful enough. Pierre Morel's Direction is stylish. Cinematography is impressive. Editing is ordinary. Marco Beltrami's Score is fine.

Performance-Wise: Sean Penn delivers a committed performance, yet again! He enacts the protagonist with complete honesty & his striking physique stands out. He looks terrific here! Jasmine Trinca is nicely restrained. Javier Bardem looks jaded & least interested in the goings-on. Ray Winstone is, as always, competent. Mark Rylance is fair. Idris Elba is wasted.

On the whole, 'The Gunman' is a so-so fare.

When you hear a movie titled the Gunman what do you think of? For me I think of a few scenarios that come to mind: an action pack shoot em up movie, something on the lines of James Bond, or following down the rogue agent Bourne pathway. So I can't help but say I was excited for this movie this weekend, especially with Sean Penn leading the cast. With few trailers to give me insight, I eagerly headed to my local theater to give this film a try.

Unfortunately the movie did not go down the expected path, and even worse it took the wrong direction for this reviewer. For those uncertain of the plot, Gunman is about a sniper named Terrier who is targeted for assassination by an unknown group. In order to save himself and his loved ones, he must dig deep into a convoluted scheme that may related back to an incident. I know sounds awesome right, if old hat, but Gunman held some promise of action mixed in with good old fashioned spying.

Not the case my friends. Gunman is actually a snooze fest, being one of the first movies to make me nap in almost half a year. It starts with the pace of the movie, not necessarily too slow, but just enough that you start to lose interest. For me, it wasn't that the plot was boring, but the details they tried to lay out for us were very convoluted, many details ambiguous and confusing in their presentation. May of the scenes involved him obsessing over his former love, which after a few arguments and an unnecessary sex scene, started to grow staler than month old bread. Now don't get me wrong, convoluted plots can be a good thing, but they require a good presentation that keeps one engaged in the movie. And this film did not do it for me.

Perhaps I could have been entertained more if the action had lived up to my, I'll admit, high expectations. The opening shot scene was nothing special, but the following skirmish held some promise for excitement down the line. And in truth, two or three battles brought the flash in the pot, bang in your ear entertainment that I so crave. Despite being an elite shooter, Terrier didn't have perfect accuracy, and had to pull some creative stunts to take down his killers, who by the way could actually hit him. Taking away our hero's invincibility was a smart move, but some battles get led down the wrong path, or are a repeat of an earlier fight. Kills are graphic, the camera not shying away from someone's head getting a new hole, as torrents of red litter the ground. If you are up for this kind of stuff, then by all means stop reading this review and head down to the theater. Looking back over the movie though, I can't say the action was as on point or exciting as I had hoped, nor as fast as these scenes sometime need to be.

Helping save this movie from complete failure was the acting. Sean Penn as Terrier was good. The actor was able to transition across the emotional spectrum, being a relief worker with a little troublemaker streak to an angry killer on the loose. Penn has always had a talent for playing well developed characters, and while annoying as this role is, he still plays it well. Jasmine Trica as Annie was a decent addition to the cast, though I must say her character could have been much stronger than they made her. Trica's main talent involved huffing, puffing, and crying as people died. Her dialog was too shallow for me and they threw her as nothing but an object for Terrier to protect. Javier Barden brings his Hispanic background back to the screen, but his role was very short and unfortunately very sad as a love obsessed, drunk who loses his min. Not my favorite role, but again he does okay. As for Idris Elba, he is hardly in the film for fifteen minutes, really only to bring some "coded" advice and a means to end the movie. No offense Elba, but had you been tailing Penn for the whole movie, I might have boosted your score.

Special effects wise the editing worked for me in this movie. Stable camera angles and detailed fighting helped bring the action to life. The battlefields that became the stage for our fights were also beautiful, crafted or located in a variety of settings. Some were cool like a mansion, and others were ridiculous, like at a matador arena. Nevertheless we had an epic soundtrack to add some slight touches of excitement to the mix, as well as high definition pings, twacks, and booms to nearly deafen your ears. Unfortunately the team's cuts of the footage were nowhere near perfect for me, even though they were under the 2 hour mark. I don't know why they kept half of the dialog heavy scenes in, especially when they kept us going in circles. Oh what a waste of good film..

The Gunman is not the movie I expected it to be, and despite the assembled cast of actors, the potential is lost to fast production. With an overly ambiguous plot, and a pace that moves like a snail, the execution of this movie was below par. Those who are fans of extreme violence and profanity, as well as shots of poverty Africa are at home in this film, but otherwise skip this film for something better. A trip to the theater is not recommended from me, but we all know enough desire can make you see anything. Overall my scores for Gunman are:

Action/Crime/Drama: 6.5 Movie Overall: 5.5

Some performances were better than others, the ultimate goal of the movie took forever to get off the ground (like the first half)... I miss the old Sean Penn who took roles displaying his raw talent over these emotionally enriched character development stories which quite frankly come off as emotionally supercharged in my book.

The film has some good shootout sequences and Javier Bardem is a joy to watch but the story just isn't there for any kind of connection to the rest of the characters, I'm kind of surprised this emo-fest wasn't the brainchild of Clint Eastwood to begin with.

What action sequences there are well done but there are far too few for a movie called "The Gunman".

In the same grain as "The American" and "The International", "THE (notice a trend?) Gunman" is a international thriller/action. Where the former 2 films focus more on the thrill, and are overall failures, Gunman is more action, and much more entertaining. If you are looking for a fairly low commitment to a 'smart' action movie, then you can do worse.

In 2006, Terrier (Penn) works for a global corporation (that might as well be called Umbrella Corporation) and is asked to kill a high ranking diplomat. The movie then skips ahead to the present where Terrier is not being chased down by unknown assailants. Nothing original there.

Terrier (Penn) is a likable character. Penn tends to be an actor your either hate or love, but he is does a good job as a grittier, more realistic Jason Borne. The movie ties to humanize him, but that side plot is mostly a thud. After Penn, the cast is stellar - however underutilized. It really is the peak of 'hey that guy' British actors. Unfortunately, Elba who gets second billing is in the movie for 2 scenes total and less than 3 minutes screen time, a role that has so little to it that I might as well have played the character. Winstone and Bardem exist, but their talent is mostly wasted.

The movie is a step sideways from a classic action movie. If you like the Borne series and its fast paced action you likely won't enjoy the more 'realistic' violence of "The Gunman". Unfortunately, if you are not interested in the Borne series, this likely won't be of any more interest. I give the movie a 7, because I enjoyed it. It is far from perfect, I feel the movie definitely 'left sometime on the table' in terms of directing and acting, it misses often in character development, and the movie kind of devolves into cliché, but there is enough substance to watch.