PREMISE
A realtor is pulled back into the life he left behind after his former partner-in-crime resurfaces. With his crime-lord brother on his trail, he must confront his past and the history he never fully buried.
THE GOOD STUFF
KE HUY QUAN- I couldn’t help but struggle with the idea of Ke Huy Quan as an action hero in any way. He is quite possibly the least physically imposing action protagonist I’ve ever seen, and I think the film might have been less effective if he weren’t exactly that. As audiences, we’ve seen this reformed hitman double life trope done quite a few times now, and in showing the reformed cookie-cutter version of the “old you” that the now protagonist used to be, Quan plays that part of the character perfectly. Honestly, he seems like that guy in real life.
As far as the other side of the coin, well… If we had an action badass meter that went from 1 to 10… Quan would be a solid six. He’s fine. Just enough to get by.
KING & OTIS- In the somewhat packed screening in which I saw this movie, the vast majority of the laughs came from the two side character mercenaries played by Norwegian rapper Andre Erikson and retired NFL running back Marshawn Lynch. The trailer would suggest that both of these men don’t really get a lot to do outside of one or two scenes, but that is not the case. They shockingly have a lot to do here, and they’re the funniest part of this movie.
ACTION (The Good Stuff)- For the most part, the action in this movie is played for laughs. And when it does that, it works. This film fits a lot of sight gags and one-liners into really intricate-looking fight scenes. Furthermore, the aftermath of these fight scenes is constantly referenced with more comedy. Quan seems to do this kind of thing with relative ease; the shootouts are all chaotic in a good sort of way, and the action is bloody without getting very gory.
THE LOVE STORY SUBPLOT- There’s a really goofy subplot involving two side characters that’s executed in a very melodramatic way. This movie has a lot of cheesy dialogue, but man, it’s super duper Velveeta in this subplot, and it’s done so with comedic effect. This is an actual love story that very much trounces the main love story that we’re supposed to be following, and its cheesiness got a lot of laughs from the audience that I saw it with.
THE BAD STUFF
THE VILLIANS- Action movies of this kind are only great when the villain is good. You can fall into all of the familiar tropes all you want to, but the villain has to have charisma that matches the lead in some way. This is not the case here. The villains of this film have bathroom break-level energy in contrast to literally everything else that’s going on. When is the side character done for comedic effect that gets no laughs and the big bad of this film is flat-out boring, honestly. At least they could have been a little bit menacing to give some decent contrast to everything else that’s going on, but that’s not even happening.
THE UGLY STUFF
ACTION (The Bad Stuff)- As previously mentioned, when this film is doing its action comedically, it’s enjoyable to watch. What is not enjoyable to watch at all is when this film tries to add some John Wick-level badassery, and the action is taken in a more serious tone. When it does this, the action really seems like a choreographed dance more than actual combat that’s supposed to be taking place.
Say what you want about guys like Jason Statham, Jean-Claude Van Damme, or Jet Li, but those guys know how to fight for real, and the films they do in comparison to this, the punches and kicks just… look different. There’s a lot more fluidity going on in those movies rather than something like this. The final showdown sequence is so choreographed and ugly that it wouldn’t surprise me if there were a dance choreographer behind the director screaming to the actors, “5…6…7…8!” Before the director yelled action, and these scenes began filming.
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Simply put, if you want some counter-programming for many of the romantic films you’ll see this Valentine’s Day in the theater, then this kind of work. This could have been a lot better than what it is, but it makes for a decent Friday night out.
Even though Quan has won an Oscar (which he well deserved), I’m not exactly sold on him as a leading man. This is a step in the right direction, but I’m still on the fence.
LOVE HURTS is in theaters now
