THE GUNMAN : Thursday 16th April 2015.

I like a Sean Penn movie, and think his versatile acting talents are a drawcard in an age where often we have cardboard cut out characters, predictable personalities, and genre specific typecasting that can be summed up and pinned down in a 90 second trailer. And so it was that I saw Penn's latest offering 'THE GUNMAN' earlier in the week on its Australian opening night at my local multiplex. Directed by Pierre Morel who introduced the world to the Liam Neeson franchise 'Taken', in this film, based on the early 80's book 'The Prone Gunman' by Jean-Patrick Manchette, Penn takes a Screenwriting, Producing and Acting credit and doubtless chipped in with the US$40M production budget too.

The 54 year old Actor is looking more & more grizzled as every year passes with his weather beaten features, his lived in face and his increasingly rugged complexion, and maybe for this reason he is well cast as the ageing now retired ex-soldier Jim Terrier who eight years ago assassinated the Minister of Mining in the very fragile, politically unstable and economically retarded Congo.

Times are tough down Congo way in 2006 when the film opens, and so Terrier is part of a team supposedly acting as security on the construction of a new airstrip for use by a mining company who are exploiting various minerals, metals and mining opportunities from the resources rich country. But, Terrier is really part of an elite squad who have a particular set of skills that might just come in handy when the Minister of Mining decides to cancel all multi-million dollar mining contracts and put them up for grabs again in this corrupt economy. And so orders are given for Terrier and his team to take out the Minister and skip the continent pronto, with the job falling to Terrier to pull the trigger and get outta Dodge City leaving behind his love interest Annie (Jasmine Trinca) and his pals.

Eight years later Terrier has carved out a new life and decides to return to the Congo working for an NGO digging water wells to help the still downtrodden locals. A death squad arrive and seek to take out Terrier for reasons that at this point are unclear to him, but of course armed with his particular set of skills he dispenses with his quarry quick smart. Skipping Dodge City once again he ends up within 24 hours in London and seeks out his former employer for some advice, guidance, support and insight into who might be after him after all this time.

From this point forward the hunt is on as Terrier uncovers more unscrupulous former colleagues, more dodgy dealings, and foils more attempts on his life as the truth behind his part in the killing of the Minister in 2006 is revealed. From here the cat and mouse game takes us to Barcelona and then Gibraltar and then back again with scenes that are reminiscent of 'Bourne', 'Taken' and many others of this type. That said, the hand to hand fight scenes, the close quarter gun fire, and the action sequences are well handled but in reality nothing that you haven't seen before . . . probably many times.

The cast is strong and add gravitas to the story line including Javier Bardem as former colleague Felix who hooks up with Terrier's former love interest Annie after he moved on in 2006; then there is Ray Winstone as Stanley as long term friend and former colleague going back long before the events of the Congo unfolded. Idris Elba is DuPont, the CIA Agent investigating dodgy mining companies, dodgy security contractors and dodgy third world services providers and the one that gave the orders for Terrier's kill in the first place; and Mark Rylance as Cox the former head of Terrier's elite squad and now head of one such service provider on the cusp of winning a new mega contract but needs first to ensure there are no loose ends leading back to the events of 2006 . . . and Terrier is a loose end!

All of this adds up to a familiar tale of revenge & retribution, thrills & spills, fast paced action, and Sean Penn toned up, buffed up, and pumped up adding kick-ass action to his Resume just as Willis, Washington, Neeson, Stallone, and Schwarzenegger continue to do well into their 50's and 60's. In the final analysis you don't have to see this on the big screen and could easily wait three months for the DVD & BluRay release, but there are redeeming features and you could find worse things to spend your $20 on. If formulaic genre type action films of this type are up your alley then you're likely to enjoy this, and Penn does a solid job trying to stay alive throughout, kicking butt, and looking grizzled, toned and stoic as the body count rises.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-