2 Guns

Michael 'Stig' Stigman (Mark Wahlberg) and Robert 'Bobby' Trench (Denzel Washington) are two go-to guys for a Mexican drug cartel's leader when it comes to getting stuff across the border. But when said leader stiffs them on the bill of their latest delivery, they decide to rob the $3 million he's got holed up in a local bank. However, once they get in there, they find they've accidentally robbed $43 million of Earl's (Bill Paxton) money, a bad guy who makes the cartel leader look like Barney The Dinosaur. Also, what they don't realise about each other is that Stig is an undercover naval officer and Bobby an undercover DEA agent, both of whom were trying to bring down the cartel, and they're going to need each other's help once they find out that their superior officers might be in on the whole thing.

A complicated but not necessarily confusing plot, based on a graphic novel that has less in common with super hero epics than it does with the likes of RED, director Kormakur keeps a light touch on proceedings, never getting bogged down with the endless game of Whodunnit?

Wahlberg is the highlight of the film, with the energy and outlook of a sugar-rushed puppy, and constantly knocking out the filthy one-liners he's become so adept at delivering. Washington is fine, given more of an emotional arc as he's romantically involved with his boss (Paula Patton, sexy but wasted), and it is nice to see him play someone who is more familiar with the concept of smiling. Paxton is great as the bad guy, all dead-eyed menace and southern drawl, but isn't given much to do other than violently ask where his money is.

The problem with 2 Guns is that, while perfectly entertaining, it's also completely forgettable. There's nothing here that stands out from any action movie you've seen in the last twenty years, thanks to some join-the-dots plotting, not particularly inventive shoot-outs and superfluous casting (James Marsden, we're looking at you).

Funny, but not too funny. Action-y, but not too action-y. Wahlberg and Washington make for a good buddy-cop team, but if you don't like either or both of them, then there's no saving graces here for you.