Writer: Syahida Kamarudin

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Watch this if you liked: "The Departed", "Miami Vice", "Die Hard" series

To put it in a nutshell, "2 Guns" is like the spawn of "The Departed" and "Miami Vice" with a tinge of every single action/buddy-cop movie tropes that tells the story of two unlikely people working together to solve a case, seek revenge, or both.

But while it doesn't always work (Harrison Ford & Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis & Tracy Morgan, anyone?), the chemistry and the very different acting styles of Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington made the movie tolerable, and somewhat entertaining. And the engaging interaction between the two was what made "2 Guns" work, despite the many loopholes and ridiculous action scenes, in which one of them may remind you of Harrison Ford's ageing Indiana Jones and his nuclear blast-shielding fridge.

The movie - an adaptation of Steven Grant's comic series of the same name, begins with no prologue or back story at all, as audiences are introduced to the two characters; DEA agent Bobby Trench (Washington) and US Naval Intel Officer Marcus Stigman (Wahlberg) who both have been tasked as an undercover to infiltrate a Mexican drug cartel without knowing each other's actual identity and individual mission.

How about character development? No explanation whatsoever on how the two actually met, who they are as individuals (or anybody else in the movie for that matter), and the reason behind all the betrayal and backdoor dealings going around. Just like Trench and Stigman, the movie goes straight into its mission of snarky snappy dialogues, gun action and loads of explosion with no apology whatsoever. If one wants to watch a movie with a solid plot, one can throw that plan out of the window with this.

However, if you want to see stylised gunfights, explosions, and gold-toothed Denzel Washington exchanging biting remarks with "Sir Wink-a-lot Wahlberg", then this is the right movie for you. It's safe to say that the whole movie relies solely on its two stars' performances, the kind of powerful chemistry that makes you close your eyes to the ridiculousness.

Cinema Online, 18 September 2013