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A dull, generic retread, made far worse by Penn's self-seriousness as an actor, by the banal political pieties he's grafted on as producer and co-writer, and by the presence of a pitifully retrograde female lead role.
That aid work and violence are often two sides of the same coin is an all too familiar scenario, but in The Gunman there's little distinction between the pair.
The actors are good and the action is thrilling. And if the film isn't quite as seriously political as I'm guessing Penn told himself it was, it's definitely an offbeat change of pace for us.
March 20, 2015
The Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Relentlessly, loudly violent, the well-made Gunman is oddly compelling even when it's stupid (often).
I doubt The Gunman will do much to advance Penn's foray into action-hero bankability, and that's probably a good thing. He's too fine an actor to be mired in nonstop shootouts while flashing his pecs and looking scowly.
The Gunman degenerates into dreary setups for guns and gore. Penn merits more. So do we.
March 20, 2015
New Zealand Herald
It's directed by Pierre Morel, who started the geri-action genre with Liam Neeson in Taken. This one's both more complex and stupider and barely exciting, even when it's hailing bullets.