3 Days To Kill comes courtesy of the writing team of Adi Hasak and Luc Besson, whose previous effort, From Paris With Love is a film that so charmingly revels in its complete and utter stupidity that it became one of the most entertaining films I saw in 2010. I suspect come 2015 I'll be saying the same thing about 3 Days To Kill. This is an utterly ludicrous film with enough plot holes and unintentionally hilarious moments in its 2 hour running time that it gives the Twilight saga a run for their money. The film would not exist if star Kevin Costner was not still a big working name. This makes sense considering he's the key to giving this film its edge. This is a film that proves his seemingly endless ability to kick serious ass and make it look both totally realistic and seemingly easy. If it were anybody else....none of this would have worked.
In the film, Costner plays Ethan Renner...a spy who plans to go into retirement after he learns he's dying of cancer. However, when a sultry femme fatale named Vivi (Amber Heard) hires Ethan for one last mission in exchange for an experimental drug that can potentially save his life, he accepts. All the while, Ethan is making an honest attempt to reconnect with his estranged daughter and wife (Hailee Steinfeld and Connie Nielsen) as well as allowing homeless people to live in his apartment (?) and trying to track down a villainous something or other called The Albino.
Yes.....the plot makes about as little sense as one plot could possibly make. However, Costner keeps this thing on the right track by giving the audience an easily relatable character despite the fact that he's involved in a plot that makes you think "wait..what...how...since when did that happen?" This is not to say the other actors aren't good, either. Steinfeld and Nielsen bring significantly more depth to their characters than they probably deserved to and Heard makes great eye candy, which is basically all her role requires to do.
The film is directed by McG, director of the Charlie's Angels films and This Means War which means that he's done the stupid spy film thing before. I honestly love the Charlie's Angels films as pure dumb fun but This Means War is one of the blandest films I have ever seen in my many years of watching about 300 films in the theater a year. This directing job definitely falls more in the first category. I can't get past the fact that 3 Days To Kill is one of the dumbest things I have ever seen but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have an absolute blast while I watching it.
(3 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language)
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