It’s probably entirely fair to say that Arnold Schwarzenegger had mastered the art of the action film that’s unintentionally funny way before the appearance of Liam Neeson. With films like Predator and Commando and memorable quotes, Arnie was certainly the go-to guy if you wanted to make that particular kind of action film. Steven Segal was a close second. As they aged, the film studios discovered that their age didn’t matter, they were still box office gold.
Then Taken changed everything. Liam Neeson claimed while he was making the film, he had no idea how successful it was going to be, he merely thought he was making a film that would go straight to DVD but due to how unintentionally funny it turned out to be, the film became a massive commercial (and critical) success spawning two sequels. Then came the Expendables and it certainly seemed the cinema-going audience were really eager to see their older action stars on the big screen again. It seemed like the perfect method to revitalise those tired careers, careers like Kevin Costner’s.
Unfortunately for Costner, the projects he has worked on for the last few years, although not huge successes have turned out some critically acclaimed performances like his turn as Jack Dolan in The Company Men or Jonathan Kent in the Superman reboot, Man of Steel but Costner needed a new starring role and someone obviously decided he should take a trip to Neeson-ville where all older actors can become action stars.
3 Days to Kill revolves around Costner’s character Ethan Renner, an older CIA agent who on finding out he only has a matter of months to live decides to return to his family in Paris and make amends for abandoning them years before. But there is always one last job… Renner is soon tracked down by a CIA employee who wants him to help with a target that they just can’t pin down, the Wolf. In exchange for his help with the job, they will provide him with a treatment for his illness which will prolong his life.
Still with us? First off, 3 Days to Kill is very much in the same vein as Taken, an older assassin with a history of abandoning his family who suddenly wants to do the right thing. However, besides that the film can’t really decide if it is an action film or a family drama and has a hard time keeping up with both plot lines. It does make the entire affair pretty entertaining but there are more laughs here than you would expect for a film like this.
The female characters all conform to stereotypes, the bad-ass and really hot assassin who is solelyout for herself, the wayward daughter and the abandoned wife. There is literally no character development here whatsoever. Even Costner’s character arc is completely predictable, he seems to be here for the fun of the process.
The action scenes are few and far between, this is very much an agent in the latter part of his career and his ability to take down people quickly and efficiently is often adhered to but never really proven, particularly at the beginning. His illness prevents him from working to his full potential. In fact, you may begin to wonder why Amber Heard’s character cannot just do this job herself if she is so amazing.
Overall, a bit of a mess but slightly enjoyable in parts with some reasonable performances. You won’t hate it, we’re just not sure you will like it that much either.
