The Gunman

The Gunman

Rating 5 out of 10

This has been the dead zone for dumping movies.  I haven't been motivated to see anything in some time.  I was out of town and looking for something to kill time.  I decided to give Sean Penn's new movie a chance.  If nothing else I'd get some action.  Sadly that's about all there is here and the action is not that great.

Sean plays James Terrier, an ex-special forces turned hired gun in the Congo where goons are trying to extend the fighting there to give them more time to plunder the natural resources (gold, silver, diamonds).  When he crosses a line he didn't want to cross he retires and leaves the country.  Fast forward eight years later and Terrier is doing good helping the poor in Africa when some goons show up looking for the "white man".  This of course means something has surfaced about the covert mission eight years ago and bad guys are out to kill him.  Then the fun begins.

Penn shows off his new Superman style abs as he chain smokes thru the movie.  They try to hide the paint by numbers plot by making it so complicated you can't really follow it.  Or maybe I just lost interest.

There are a couple good action scenes and Penn does everything he can.  This will make a decent rental on a slow rainy day or maybe watching on cable.  I would not pay full price for this movie.