A sniper on a mercenary assassination team, kills the minister of mines
of the Congo. Terrier's successful kill shot forces him into hiding.
Returning to the Congo years later, he becomes the target of a hit squad
himself.
Director: Pierre Morel
Writers: Don MacPherson,
Jean-Patrick Manchette (novel), 2 more credits »
Stars: Sean Penn,
Idris Elba,
Jasmine Trinca|
See full cast and crew
Storyline
A sniper on a mercenary assassination team, working for an unknown
client, kills the minister of mines of the Congo. Terrier's (Sean
Penn's) successful kill shot forces him to go into hiding to protect
himself and the members of the team from retribution. This includes
abruptly abandoning his girlfriend who has no idea what is going on. The
assassination, paid for by a foreign mining company, triggers wide
spread chaos and death in an already inflamed Congo. Terrier returns to
the Congo years later working for an NGO, but eventually finds himself
to be the target of a paid hit squad somehow connected to the ministers
assassination. This leads to immediate deaths and the endangerment of
the people working around him, and forces him back into hiding. In
trying to discover who has put a price on his head, he begins to
reconnect to the members of his old assassination team, including his
old girlfriend. Always aware there is no path to redemption for his
crimes, he is also periodically ... Written by
RSailor
User Reviews:
'THE GUNMAN': Four Stars (Out of Five)
Another
respectable (and very serious) A-list actor turns to B- action movies,
very late in his career (and at over 50-years of age); following the
likes of stars like Liam Neeson. It's probably no coincidence that the
director of the film, Pierre Morel, also turned Neeson into an action
film star (when he directed him to superstar success in 2008's 'TAKEN').
Penn also co-produced this movie (with none other than action master
Joel Silver) and he also co-wrote the screenplay (with Don Macpherson
and Pete Travis). The film also features other highly praised
respectable A-list talent, in supporting roles; like Javier Bardem and
Idris Elba. The movie has failed to do well at the Box Office (so far)
though and it's also received mostly negative reviews from critics. I
think it's a blast and a lot of fun though; if you like B-action movies!
Penn
plays Jim Terrier; a highly skilled mercenary assassin, working for an
unnamed employer. On one job, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he's
forced to kill the minister of mines there. He then must go into hiding;
in order to protect himself and his team, and abandon his girlfriend,
Annie (Jasmine Trinca). One of his team members, Felix (Bardem), helped
orchestrate Terrier's role in the assignment; so that he could swoop in
and steal Annie, for himself. Eight years later Terrier returns to the
Congo; to work for a non- profit volunteer group there. He's almost
killed by a hit squad though and realizes others, from his former team,
are also probably in danger; as well as Annie. Terrier then goes on a
deadly mission; to find out who was behind the attempt on his life, and
save his ex- girlfriend.
Sean Penn is in amazing shape, in this
movie, especially at 54- years-old! He looks, and surprisingly acts, a
lot like Sylvester Stallone (in this film). The whole movie, to me,
feels a lot like a Stallone flick, with Penn in the lead instead. To me,
that makes for a very fun film; to some though, that's the recipe for a
really cheesy and bad movie. That's why this got mostly bad reviews, I
think, and didn't do really well at the Box Office; Penn isn't an action
movie star (that's for sure). It is really odd to see him doing a film
like this; given his very serious attitude about politics, as well as
film (in general). I love the idea of him starring in a movie like this
though and I think this movie is really well made and entertaining; it's
also really dark, graphically violent and pretty suspenseful
(throughout). I can't believe actors like Bardem, Elba, Ray Winstone and
Mark Rylance also decided to join him in this venture! The movie is a
lot of fun; if you love action flicks and the idea of Sean Penn starring
in one!
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