3 Days to Kill

So...Kevin Costner in his first starring role in like....forever...

The film feels like an extension of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit since in that film, Kevin Costner plays a super spy while in this film, Kevin Costner plays a super spy. The only difference is that Costner is the star of this film.

I'll be honest here, I like Kevin Costner as a super spy. I liked his performance in Jack Ryan. I like his performance in 3 Days to Kill. Unfortunately, his acting is let down by a sub-par script. 

Costner is a superspy who's unfortunately contracted some form of brain cancer. After a botched mission in which the rest of his team is eliminated with ridiculous ease, Costner decides to retire and spend time with his estranged wife and daughter whom he hasn't seen for almost 5 years. Fortunately, cheapsexobject-I mean Amber Heard appears to give him another chance by offering him this super-experimental and secret drug that may be able to cure the rare form of cancer he has. He just needs to help her with her job, which is to kill the boss of the main his team was sent to kill previously. 

Cue shenanigans as Costner attempts to fulfill his mission while trying to bond with his daughter and keep his new mission secret from both his wife and daughter, all the while avoiding the creepy come ons from his new female superior. 

Now as I said, the script is pretty much all over the place. There are quite a few periods in the film where they show Costner doing something but then they have a voice-over in which it shows Costner talking with someone, maybe his daughter without actually having to show the conversation taking place on screen. Now this is a perfectly valid directing technique but it happens way too frequently in the movie for my liking. 

Not to mention the absurdity of the villains, who are one-dimensional characters that are apparently invincible until they need to be killed by Costner. As an example, one of them is in the backseat of the car and their side of the car is HIT directly by one that Costner is driving and the force of impact is enough to send the car flying over a bridge and crashing into the pavement below. You'd think that would kill someone wouldn't it? No, the guy somehow manages to walk away. Then there's the boss who somehow SURVIVES a 6 storey elevator crash. WTF?

Then there's Amber Heard's character. Why is she even in the film? It's like she was written in cause producers were like 'shit, we need some sex appeal' and then they insert her in all sort of weird little scenes. Like the one above where for some reason when Costner calls her, she's in this weird little red-lit room by herself,in a slinky outfit and with completely different hair color than she normally has and then the room is never shown again. What is that room? Is it a safehouse? If so, it's a very garish one. 

However, Costner's interactions with his 'captives' is fairly amusing and one can't help but wish they focused more on that instead of the sexy boss and his daughter. Seriously, I would watch a film that revolved around Costner and Mentak as an unlikely buddy cop duo. They're that funny together. 

Overall, this is a film that's pretty much forgettable.