Bullet to the Head (2013)
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Critics Consensus: Bullet to the Head's unapologetically trashy thrills evoke memories of its star and director's proud cinematic pasts -- but sadly, those memories are just about all it has to offer.
Critics Consensus: Bullet to the Head's unapologetically trashy thrills evoke memories of its star and director's proud cinematic pasts -- but sadly, those memories are just about all it has to offer.
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Movie Info
Based on a graphic novel, Bullet to the Head tells the story of a New Orleans hitman (Stallone) and a DC cop (Kang) who form an alliance to bring down the killers of their respective partners. -- (C) Warner Bros- Rating:
- R (for strong violence, bloody images, language, some nudity and brief drug use)
- Genre:
- Mystery & Suspense , Action & Adventure
- Directed By:
- Walter Hill
- Written By:
- Alessandro Camon
- In Theaters:
- Feb 1, 2013 Wide
- On DVD:
- Jul 16, 2013
- US Box Office:
- $9.5M
Cast
-
Sylvester Stallone
as James Bonomo -
Sung Kang
as Taylor Kwon -
Sarah Shahi
as Lisa Bonomo -
Adewale Akinnuoye-Ag...
as Robert Nkomo Morel -
Jason Momoa
as Keegan -
Christian Slater
as Marcus Baptiste
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– Rotten Tomatoes
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Bullet to the Head Set Visit Report
– Collider.com
Bullet to the Head Videos
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Critic Reviews for Bullet to the Head
All Critics (132) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (61) | Rotten (71) | DVD (2)
Hill's eye for back alley scuzz is as strong as ever, but the story, adapted from a French graphic novel by Alexis Nolent, is so die-cut it gives neither him nor Stallone anything to work with.
On its own degenerate terms, the movie works.
It's a series of fight scenes that build to a climax that is surprisingly unsatisfying in the way it ultimately plays out.
Sylvester Stallone shoots people in the face. That's it for subtext in this formula action swill. Why do I sound like I should expect more. Because the credits list the director as Walter Hill.
Bullet to the Head doesn't try to adapt its star to 2013. It just pretends that we're still living in 1986. And for 91 minutes, it just about works.
Stallone can still be entertaining, but here he's got no character to play, nothing fun to say, and the craziest hair/hairpiece/scalp growth this side of John Travolta.
The movie's titled Bullet to the Head, what the heck do you think it's going to be?
It says "revenge never gets old." Yeah, but Sylvester Stallone did. Yikes.
A big, dumb action film that charges forward believing Stallone is charismatic enough to sell even bad writing. He's not.
Walter Hill's Bullet to the Head is a gritty and tough throwback to times when action films were simple, fun and still considered entertaining and worth the money.
As unsubtle as its title, this action film is repetitive and packed with silly cliches that should be put to sleep.
Nothing to write home about, but with some decent fight sequences, good stunts, and amusing banter between Stallone and Kang. No need to rush out to the cineplex, although worthwhile to catch on-demand later this year.
The roar dies into a hollow echo, the growl gets gutturally one-note and the grit becomes B-movie background. Has too scuzzy a heart to pump out a deep throb of action. Peel this one back and you get more pit than pulp.
The film could be summed by its product placement for Bulleit Bourbon, treated like a rare luxury when it's actually $20 a bottle at Trader Joe's; director Walter Hill serves this inexpensive, everyday material with a serious flourish.
At its ridiculous best Bullet reminds us why we liked Stallone in the first place. But time has moved on, for him and for us and there's a point where looking back this way stops being entertaining and starts to become sad.
Walter Hill has lost none of his directorial prowess!
What's it about? Some bad guys. And some other bad guys. And some badder guys. And bullets to the head, as though through repetition of the title in action we're meant to finally understand the platonic ideal of how to murder a person with a gun.
A barely passable, if unmemorable, bit of action-heavy entertainment -- as long as you don't think too hard about the script's eye-rollingly contrived setup.
Look, Stallone has a perky daughter. Will she end up tied to a chair in a disused refinery (or something)? You know it.
... a star vehicle for Stallone first and foremost, giving him a potentially intriguing antihero character surrounded by a story that shoots blanks.
Stallone still mumbles the lines, but his timing is pretty good and the jokes are well done. Violent as the film is, the special effects and stunts are impressive, especially the ax fight at the end.
An okay action movie but sadly Stallone has entered into the "who cares" category.
Stallone and Hill make the often-corny dialogue sound not only plausible but weirdly logical.
With a cracked-asphalt voice, a shaved-wildebeest hide, the veined musculature of Swamp Thing and the apparent flexibility of a tree trunk, the aging Sylvester Stallone remains a commanding, amusing and somewhat awe-inspiring screen presence.
Thanks to Hill's directorial brio and some hot-wired one liners, Stallone can still put bad folks out of their misery real fast.
This is a very violent police action film, and that is all you can expect from it.
Audience Reviews for Bullet to the Head
Derivative, formulaic and clichéd action film, Bullet to the Head is a bland movie that fails to grab your attention due to a lack of originality, good performances and well executed action scenes. This is a bad film, one that is not worth your time and it's a pointless affair that just doesn't offer anything of note. Walter Hill direction is incoherent, and it's a shame because he has made some great films throughout his career, but this is among his worst yet. If you're expecting something great here, you'll be greatly disappointed as the film is pretty stupid in the way it tackles its action scenes. The film, like I said, just doesn't deliver and recycles old ideas from previous action films to create something "new". The film is boring, uninteresting fails to grab your attention. This is a pointless waste of time, a film that is so sloppily written and thought out that it's not worth your time. Sylvester Stallone has made far better films than this, and here he delivers a painfully dull performance that simply doesn't do anything to keep you interested. Bullet to the Head is a wasted opportunity to make something quite interesting and worth your time, but instead it just takes bits and pieces to create something that in the end is not worth watching because the film lacks a good story, effective action and more importantly good performances and interesting characters. This is a forgettable affair that ranks among Sly's worst movies, and it's a film that not worth your time. Walter Hill has made better films, and Bullet to the Head is easily a forgettable film in his long and distinguished filmography.
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Super Reviewer
3 3/4's---I rather surprisingly enjoyed this, especailly since I expected to hate it. I found the dialogue witty, and the action scenes really decent. The highlight of the movie was with Jason Momoa (who is climbing my list of favorite actors), and Sly having a pretty cool fight with axes. I think maybe I just have a soft spot for Sly movies, as of late. He sure LOOKS great for an old guy....
MoreSuper Reviewer
Walter Hill's Bullet to the Head misses its mark.The 90 minute story is dull, unexciting, and full of predictable plot details. Yes, there is definite room for improvement when it comes to the writing, but it could also have been a lot worse.The violence is where this picture excels. The shootings are bloody and what better way to live up to its title by delivering a lot of head shots, backed by some decent cinematography.While muffled and blunt at times, Sylvester Stallone's persona is fit for his hitman character. Sung Kang is a disappointment due to his dialogue and line delivery. It's hard to argue with the beauty of Sarah Shahi, so its best to leave it at that. Jason Momoa proves to be a solid adversary for Stallone and the cell phone product placement is big enough to almost warrant a character name for it.Bullet to the Head puts some bullets in the head, but it doesn't do much more than that. Watchable once and that's it.
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Super Reviewer
Veteran director Walter Hill helms this graphic novel adaptation about New Orleans (or, going by the film, Crescent City- NOLA's nickname) hitman James "Jimmy Bobo" Bonomo (Sylvester Stallone) who teams up with greenhorn D.C. cop Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang) to bring down the killers of their respective partners.
It's one of those "uneasy alliance" films- something Hill is no stranger to. How exactly the plot comes together and why these two team up is a bit of a mess, but that's not the point. The point is to see a veteran action star and a veteran director make an ass-kicking action film.
There is some success in this aim. The film has lots of action, and it is entertaining. But, overall, it's a rather lackluster and generic thriller, and that's a shame. The film is really typical in all the ways you'd suspect (especially the writing), and it really bums me out just how awful of a job the writing and characterization of Kwon was. He's a really dumb, whiny, and ineffectual cop (a lot of the time). I think Kang is fine, and he's just playing the part he was given, but it sucks he couldn't have been given a better part. Maybe they just didn't want someone to outshine Stallone? Yeah, that's probably it.
Stallone is in typical form here, and admittedly some of his banter with Kang is fun, despite being derivative cliche. Christian Slater is okay, but appears all too briefly, which is a real shame. Jason Momoa however, is great as the primary thug, though not chief mastermind antagonist. His axe fight with Stallone is definitely a highlight.
Overall, this is unspectacular stuff. Like I said, I was entertained, and, if you just want some good action and violence, it's here. I'm happy that Hill is still making movies, but I hope that if he makes another one, that it ends up being far better than this one.
Super Reviewer
Bullet to the Head Quotes
- Jimmy Bobo:
- I know. I've heard the speech. You should have taken him in.
- Jimmy Bobo:
- You're starting to sound like a broken record.
- Taylor Kwon:
- They don't even make records anymore.
- Jimmy Bobo:
- Right.
- Taylor Kwon:
- You don't just kill a guy like that!
- Jimmy Bobo:
- I just did!
- James Bonomo:
- Bang. Down. Owned.
- James Bonomo:
- Are you a cop or shrink?
- Robert Nkomo Morel:
- In classical literature the hero dies.
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