Veteran director Walter Hill (48 Hours) tries to put together a gritty good cop/bad cop flick here falls far short of the mark. Based on a French graphic novel, the movie stars Sylvester Stallone as Jimmy Bobo, a hit man with a rap sheet a mile long. Jimmy partner Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda) have just offed a man and have stopped at some sleazy bar to collect their payment when a thug named Keegan (Jason Momoa) comes after them. Jimmy barely escapes and quickly realizes they’ve been set up. When Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang), an out-of-state cop who does things by the book, arrives in New Orleans on an investigation that crosses paths with Jimmy, he doesn’t try to arrest the guy. Rather, he offers to help Jimmy find the bad guys. Jimmy initially turns him down. But the two eventually form an uneasy alliance and start to unravel a web of double-crossing politicians led by a ruthless real estate developer (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). Predictably enough, the film concludes with a showdown between Jimmy and Keegan that finds the two brutes slugging it out.
This article appears in Jan 30 – Feb 5, 2013.
It’s much easier to be a good guy when you are magically invincible to 100% of all damage except when getting damaged helps to advance the plot.