Ammo, aggro & chat-a-tat-tat in Quentin Tarantino's 2 Guns

IF Quentin Tarantino was contractually obliged to do a boilerplate Bad Boys-style action movie, the end result would not be unlike 2 Guns.

Director:

Baltasar Kormakur (Contraband)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Edward James Olmos, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, James Marsden.

3 stars

IF Quentin Tarantino was contractually obliged to do a boilerplate Bad Boys-style action movie, the end result would not be unlike 2 Guns.

While the bullets are in plentiful supply throughout - the number of extended shootouts go well into double-figures - it is the banter that really goes off with a bang here.

When you have actors of the calibre of Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg taking carefulaim at each other with some well-written verbal potshots, a so-so action picture can fleetingly become so, so good.

Such is the case for 2 Guns. Washington and Wahlberg are clearly enjoying themselves, so the chances are that you will too. Conceptually, this is one of those knotted, gnarly yarns where nothing is ever what it seems and no one is ever to be trusted. In fact, the screenplay executes so many sudden U-turns in heavy narrative traffic that there is almost no point in summarising the plot.

Denzel Washington, left, and Mark Wahlberg star in Columbia Pictures' film 2 Guns. Picture: Supplied

What you think is going on can often have no bearing on what is about to happen.

Such erratic storytelling is normally an ominous warning sign that a dud movie is about to reveal itself.

Not this time. The characters (drawn from a series of graphic novels by Steven Grant) are so vividly rendered that you're more than happy just to tag along as they do their thing.

Washington plays Bobby, a smooth-talking, shades-and-hat-wearing dude who knows his way in and out of a drug deal.

Wahlberg is Stig, a brash and not-so-bright hustler who has recently joined forces with Bobby in New Mexico for a job south of the border.

Mark Wahlberg and Denzel Washington in 2 Guns.

When they're not getting right up each other's noses, Bobby and Stig are getting on the wrong side of just about everyone they meet. And everyone they wish they'd never met.

Among these miscreants you will find the obligatory Mexican cartel boss (Edward James Olmos), a corrupt military officer (James Marsden), an even more corrupt CIA agent (Bill Paxton) and a rather attractive narcotics detective (Paula Patton).

There are no prizes for correctly sniffing there is a strong whiff of the formulaic about 2 Guns. However, all that familiarity never draws any contempt. The action scenes are strong, the dialogue is deceptively smart and the package as a whole can often deliver a short, sharp buzz that becomes quite addictive.

2 Guns is rated MA15+