SummaryAn international spy (Kevin Costner) trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter is offered an experimental drug that could save his life in exchange for one last assignment.
SummaryAn international spy (Kevin Costner) trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter is offered an experimental drug that could save his life in exchange for one last assignment.
Without Costner’s movie star equity, this thing could have fallen apart in the first 30 minutes. He keeps us involved, even as we’re thinking: Wait, WHAT just happened?
Directed by McG, written by Luc Besson, lead acting by Kevin Costner...perfect combination!!! It was a thriller not in the usual Hollywood formula. The lead character shows weakness and major flaws, but is a full and well rounded person. Of course the plot line is implausible, but the dialogue and pace of the the movie kept it engaging! I don't see any steals from the movie "Taken". Instead, there's alot of originality in the movie. Plus, the soundtrack fits the movie perfectly, especially the song "Love it or Leave it". This movie is full of surprises, that only Luc Besson can do. The editing is superb.
Just saw the movie, I loved it. I thought its going to be another Liam Neeson type movie but it wasnt. The plot was flawlessly mixed with family drama, this is great entertainment.
Costner responds by bringing an easy integrity and seemingly effortless humanity to his part. And hence making a messy, meandering and silly movie rather more watchable than it deserves to be.
Although it’s not impossible to mix humor and violence, as “Midnight Run” proves, it isn’t easy — as 3 Days to Kill proves. Points for effort all the way around, and welcome back, Costner. Let’s hope things get better from here.
The end result is still not a very good film, but it is one that boasts some enjoyable moments -- but only if you find yourself with two hours to kill.
I liked the extended cut of this movie not the theatrical one. The extended is more of an R rated version than the PG-13 one. It has a harder edge to it. With that said the script by Adi Hasak is still terrible but this is the best movie McG has directed. Doesn't hurt that he used Luc Besson's crew. The cinematography by Thierry Arbogast, as always, is very good. The movie is fast paced and uses great locations in Paris. The cast is a mixed bag. Connie Nielson is completely wasted and Kevin Costner is miscast. The best performances are from Amber Heard and Hailee Steinfeld. Best scene in the movie (extended cut) is courtesy of the hot twins Alizee & Ilyana Delaruelle
Chega a ser surpreendente que algo tão genérico seja tão divertido, bom pelo menos genérico à primeira vista. O enredo deste filme gira em torno do clichê do agente aposentado que volta à ativa, aqui de forma bem rápida. No entanto o que ele tem de diferente são dois elementos principais o motivo para a volta, que não é vingança desta vez, e também o bom humor, o filme todo tem muita piada para lidar com seus clichês. A maioria esmagadora delas funciona bem, como todo mundo estranha a situação cômica que normalmente seria séria. Ao mesmo tempo ele não passa do ponto o que é também uma qualidade. Para uma Crítica mais completa acompanhe meu Canal Isocromia.
To call this a good movie is far from what is it, 3 Days to Kill is one of the just plain dumb movies of the year, it's so stupid but it's so entertaining at times. This is complete garbage and I shouldn't like it, yet at the same time I did end up enjoying it.
Luc Besson recruits McG and Kevin Costner for a fatally compromised tale of an American spy in Paris.
The setup plays as if someone (presumably Besson, who is credited with the story and co-wrote the script with “From Paris With Love” scribe Adi Hasak) decided to graft the central father/daughter relationship from “The Descendants” onto a Eurotrashy action framework. Superstar CIA field agent Ethan Renner (Costner) spends so much time on the job that he’s completely missed watching his daughter, Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld), blossom into a sophisticated teenager. After he’s diagnosed with a fatal illness, Ethan retires and resolves to spend more time with his family in Paris, offering to watch Zooey for a weekend while his estranged wife, Christine (Connie Nielsen), is away. But retirement isn’t so easy for a man of Ethan’s skills, and he’s promptly recruited by the mysterious Vivi (Amber Heard), who needs his help in the hunt for a terrorist mastermind in exchange for experimental drugs that could give Ethan a second lease on life.
The conflict between the finesse Ethan demonstrates in his professional duties and the complete incompetence with which he approaches parenting is meant to be comedic, although the film doesn’t have the light touch of similar spy-family action-laffers like “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “True Lies” or McG’s own “This Means War.” Instead, “3 Days to Kill” proves surprisingly po-faced about trying to build the bond between Ethan and Zooey, even in the midst of moments as goofy as Dad consoling his daughter on a bad hair day, teaching her to dance or buying her a purple bicycle just because that was her favorite color as a kid. The sentimental approach almost works, thanks to the best efforts of Costner and the naturally spunky Steinfeld, who may have made a respectable pair given better material to work with.
As it is, the lukewarm family dynamics sit awkwardly alongside equally underwhelming action sequences. Recent supporting turns in “Man of Steel” and “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” aside, Costner isn’t generally associated with the action genre — he’s more of a “Waterworld”/”Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” epic-adventure guy — and the rote heroics he undertakes here won’t do much to change that. On multiple occasions, the audience simply witnesses the aftermath of Ethan’s handiwork as repped by bodies lying motionless on the floor. The notable exceptions arrive in a brief but slickly executed one-on-one skirmish in a grocery store’s deli section (complete with resourceful use of the meat grinder and panini press) and a bracingly staged car chase in the middle of a Parisian neighborhood inspired by Claude Lelouch’s “Rendezvous” and John Frankenheimer’s “Ronin.”
That chase makes a lovely pairing with McG’s other standout sequence: a montage of Ethan riding the bike he bought for Zooey through the city streets and parking near the Eiffel Tower. It’s a sweet divertissement for the typically boisterous director, who overall reins in the bombastic giddiness of his “Charlie’s Angels” pictures and abandons the soulless spectacle of “Terminator: Salvation” to make an action film that’s downright restrained by his standards. Unfortunately, in this case the restraint reads as overly safe. “3 Days to Kill” is quite literally bloodless — the fight sequences in “Taken” packed a far more potent punch even with the same PG-13 rating — which seems like a missed opportunity. The juxtaposition of Ethan’s violent work and gentler paternal side might have added some desperately needed intrigue to the banal story.
The filmmakers certainly don’t find any of the intended mystery in Ethan’s fitful encounters with the femme-fatale-ish Vivi, a severely under-realized character who never makes any sense despite Heard’s arduous efforts to vamp it up. Nielsen’s thankless skeptical spouse role is even less significant, while Tomas Lemarquis and Richard Sammel bring nothing beyond menacing visages to their bland terrorist baddies. It’s a running gag that Ethan seeks parenting advice from just about anyone he encounters, which offers decent moments for character actors Eriq Ebouaney as the African paterfamilias in a family squatting in Ethan’s semi-abandoned apartment, and Marc Andreoni as a Middle Eastern limo driver linked to the villains.
Although the film’s tech package is reliably proficient, one would have hoped for more onscreen fireworks from the union of ultra-American McG and Costner with French mainstay Besson. Alas, this European vacation is a time-killer of the most mundane variety.
Without a doubt, one of the worst films of 2014. The first thing I noticed was the cinematography, which was awful. It had this terrible combination of a sunny day, but with a grey color correction that just made it look muddy. The plot is nonsensical and some moments were just hilariously bad. The actors did a fairly good job, especially Kevin Costner, who was probably the only good thing out of this film. The editing is clunky, with some scenes that just felt illogically put together. I've pretty much given up on MCG. Aside from some well made action sequences and a charming Kevin Costner as the main character, it's terrible. DON'T WATCH IT.