Kevin Costner has appeared in a plethora of seriously bad films. Finally, he's made an exception to the rule. This is a bad film, but it's certainly nothing you can take seriously. On the other hand, it's not as ridiculous as you might expect-- what better disguise for robbing a Vegas casino during an Elvis convention week than five guys dressed as Elvis?
Don't let the trailers fool you. This is not the crime-caper it's made out to be. This is not the buddy movie you expect. It's action, the whole way through. In only one scene does the mayhem stop long enough for the audience to gag and retch at some really terrible dialogue.
My co-victim raised an interesting point: This movie is somewhat reminiscent of Three Kings. Cast of People You've Heard Of, lots of gunshots, a plot to steal lots of money, weird camera-play, and lots and lots of blood. The odd camera work was annoying, but not enough to really detract from the movie. The blood, after a while, became omnipresent. This is not all bad, though--the Cast of People You've Heard of were fun to watch. You've heard of them for a reason, after all. Even when the characters are written as inconsistent morons, the actors get a watchable performance through. In this movie, even the nobodies are played by a somebody.
The cinematography was often "artistic", which is what I say when I mean "I suspect the director was trying to get something across with this camera work and this editing." What he got across to me is that he seems to have hired epileptic camera men for cut-scenes. Oh, and the editing and splicing machine must have been on the fritz.
With this many bullets flying around, it's understandable that the plot has a few holes in it. Everything in the movie has a few holes in it. Even John Woo doesn't generally have this many bullets fired in his movies, which brings me to another problem with the movie: While the movie is largely fu, the fu list is very short. Guns, guns, guns, blood, and guns is the order of the day, which makes for a movie that's not really visually interesting enough to recommend the big screen.
On the other hand, while I did imply director Demian Lichtenstein is no John Woo, Woo's name is what comes to mind when describing the number of bullets, so this can't be all bad. If you're looking for a nice, testosterone-laden evening with the guys, this movie isn't a bad bet.
And so, the moment of truth: What's left of the plot allows the movie to keep going unhindered, and the acting saves a pretty dismal script. Call it a 4 on the good movie scale. There's plenty of action, but not a whole lot of variety. The good one-liners balance out the bad, so it gets a 7 on the Bad Movie Scale.
Our Drive-In Totals:
Uncountable dead bodies and Elvises, but strangely enough, only
4 dead Elvises (Elvi?)
0 breasts
2 discussions of breasts
1 Horde of inept security guards
1 Horde of SWAT team members, probably related to the security guards
3 classic ragtops
1 Blues Brothers Moment
1 jar of bubble gum
1 well-placed boot
1/2 dozen scantily clad showgirls
2 slow-motion bullets passing each other
2 Coyotes
0 Roadrunners
3.2 million dollars
4 annoying fast camera cut scenes
1 indestructible Chevy Caprice
1 incomprehensible out take in the credits
1 propane tank placed atop a building for no apparent reason
3 gratuitous explosions. Oh, there's a reason...
2 worthwhile US Marshall characters
1 Walla-Walla Wombats Wagon
2 non sequitur CGI scorpions
Obligatory "Thankya, ma'am, thankya verah much."
Obligatory "Elvis has left the building."
Showdown at high noon
Graceland
Gun Fu
Van Fu
Knife Fu
Bow Fu
Parking Pole Fu
Scorpion Fu
Coyote Fu
Boot Fu
4 on the Good Movie Scale
7 on the Bad Movie Scale
