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Title: The Gunman (2015)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Sean Penn | ... | Terrier | |
| Jasmine Trinca | ... | Annie | |
| Javier Bardem | ... | Felix | |
| Ray Winstone | ... | Stanley | |
| Mark Rylance | ... | Terrance Cox | |
| Idris Elba | ... | Barnes | |
| Peter Franzén | ... | Reiniger (as Peter Franzen) | |
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Mark Billingham | ... | Reed (as Sir Billy Billingham) |
| Daniel Adegboyega | ... | Bryson | |
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Ade Oyefeso | ... | Eugene |
|
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Alejandro Talavante | ... | Bullfighter |
|
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Florian Barisey | ... | Village Boy |
|
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Ismael Tunkara | ... | Village Boy |
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Amara Tunkara | ... | Village Boy |
| Rachel Lascar | ... | Camille | |
A sniper on a mercenary assassination team, working for an unknown client, kills the minister of mines of the Congo. Terrier's (Sean Penn's) successful kill shot forces him to go into hiding to protect himself and the members of the team from retribution. This includes abruptly abandoning his girlfriend who has no idea what is going on. The assassination, paid for by a foreign mining company, triggers wide spread chaos and death in an already inflamed Congo. Terrier returns to the Congo years later working for an NGO, but eventually finds himself to be the target of a paid hit squad somehow connected to the ministers assassination. This leads to immediate deaths and the endangerment of the people working around him, and forces him back into hiding. In trying to discover who has put a price on his head, he begins to reconnect to the members of his old assassination team, including his old girlfriend. Always aware there is no path to redemption for his crimes, he is also periodically ... Written by RSailor
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.