One of Amazon Primes’ best free action movies, Bullet to the Head gets a quick review.
One of 2013’s lesser known films has real quality embedded in its core and it may not be Oscar material but its the right kind of quality, being a slick throwback to the old days of action cinema.
For a film as simplistic like this, it has a director with years of experience with an actor whose presence has dominated action cinema for decades, the combo is nothing short of meat headed fun.
Stallone gave a punchy career comeback back in 2013 with Walter Hill’s Bullet to the Head, starring the hot headed Jason Mamoa and the understated Sung Kang. The action is slick and punchy with Stallone’s clothing confirming the coolness, wearing a suit and rocking a dashingly cool and smart haircut.
For a film that is supposed to look and feel somehwhat independent, it has the backings and finance of Warner Brothers which is always a good sign, just giving this film a nice lift above the rest of forgetable straight to DVD action films of our modern generation.
The direction and the story are very simple, in fact, most of the film’s criticisms come from the idea that the film is so simple that it verges on being stupid and perhaps that’s the charm for some audiences.
Walter Hill who majored in history and even produced Ridley Scott’s Alien franchise gave the film an interesting visual look and taste, with a strong emphasis on realism with the action scenes being hard hit and bruising, where you feel every punch.
The action is designed to be simplisitc and thats the films USP, it has simple action but does it well, very well and the film certainly does’nt shy away from blood and voilence. Stallone gives audiences his hardest hits of his career in this film as we see hiim take on quite a few enemies of serious force, but this time its more face to face rather in the Rambo series, we see him take out thousands of enemies without that personal touch.
Physically, Stallone really pushed himself in this film, with muscles tougher with more experience than his physique in the Rambo films,I believe. His look has an edge that is very unique in this film. His character visually stands out as a seperate entity, just like the nature of this film, but it slots in nicely with his body of work.
Ironically, one of the best parts to the film is the runtime, its very short and it earns every minute, never going into any unnescessary areas of the story, therefore, the film is very focused and straight to the point, but it balances, drama, action and heart all fairly well. Each department of genre is given an appropriate amount of screen development, without burendeing the themes onto the audience.
There is a nice touch of comedy throughout the film, with a duo of Stallone and Taylor Kwon because the two stars represent a different time period, one who comes from an older generation who has developed a sense of resentment and Kwon who has this fresh and slick touch of a modern action star who outshines stallone on some of his moves.
The whole film is just relaxing to watch, like I said there is no overload on any theme including action, drama and comedy. We get scenes where characters are sitting down and just talking, and even those scenes are easy on the eyes, but the action delivers, both as a neat thowback but in a slick modern cinematic context of axes, suits, fist fights and gunplay.
Take notice of the soundtrack featuring a selection of perfectly selected rock songs, it compliments all of the scenes very nicely and adds a sense of fun to a film that truly is very voilent and dramatic. The film is shot very nicely and has a good sense of style.
However, like I said the best scenes in the film are the fist fights, they feel so real, even in todays terms of action cinema, Bullet to the Head serves as a real example of how fight scenes should look and feel on camera and there is no better actor to portray these than Stallone and Mamoa who clash so excellently together, throwing these self aware one liners to each other, with the Axe Fight scene being the films best scenes.
The film really gets going in the opening scene, where see something bad happen to Stallone’s partner. The film does’t shy away from the voilence which emphasises themes of revenge with more aggression, making the hunt to track down the bad guys just that more fun.
Despite getting a moderate screen release, Bullet to the Head is best served as a Friday and Saturday night dish, that has you relaxing and maybe throwing a few laughs as Stallone fights his way several men alongside Fast and Furious’s star Sung Kang who enjoys contradicting pretty much every line Stallone has.
The film takes place in a fantasy context, where the plot is not rooted with realism as its priority, but the characters, as Walter Hill as stated in interviews are real and thats the most important part to the picture and thats what we connect with as audience members.
The characters are likeable as they are placed in a story that is full of bad guys, which is what creates that ball of conflict and voilence, which is very entertaining to watch as a fan of action cinema.
For those that can cast their minds back, 2013 saw the release of Arnie’s comeback flick, The Last Stand, which deliverred in comedy and action, whereas Bullet to the Head is a little more serious, dramatic and its action hits harder than bullets themselves, quite literally.
Bullet to the Head certainly feeds of its nostalgia, but its nostalgia isnt dead yet, thanks to strong direction from Walter Hill and a Stallone performance tough enough to take down any enemy threat, but always having that relatable screen presence that has stood the test of time of cinema.
Author Bio
Sam is a content writer. He loves all elements connected with film and writes with passion, always. You can find him on Linkedin, where you will be able to read more articles. When he is not writing, you can find him practicing football
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