2 Guns
Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 2, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
21
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJul 31, 2013
2 Guns is a movie based on smart callbacks and sly flip-flops of loyalty, regularly interrupted by spasms of well-staged violence. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJul 31, 2013
2 Guns is a much-needed reminder that the best summer surprises can come when you least expect them. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinAug 15, 2013
Could this be the late-emerging hit movie of summer 2013? No chance, although if this was August 1987, a time when we allowed action films to be smart on their own dumb terms, it might have cleaned up. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriAug 1, 2013
For a movie with so many twists in it, 2 Guns never really jerks us around. This is what some summer movies should be like — clever in a stupid way, and stupid in a clever way. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJul 31, 2013
Pure charisma is sometimes the best special effect. That’s what Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg bring to 2 Guns, and after a season full of superhero duds, they deliver a crucial dose of cool. Read full review
79
Film.comWilliam GossAug 1, 2013
In a season stuffed with empty eye candy, 2 Guns comes along as something of a welcome burrito — plenty satisfying and hardly nutritious. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 5, 2013
With a sharp and funny if sometimes convoluted script by Blake Masters and slick, pulpy direction from Baltasar Kormakur, and of course that first-rate cast, 2 Guns rises above standard action fare. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonAug 2, 2013
You've seen all this before, and many times. 2 Guns works because it's essentially several riffs on familiar material. Cliché is not a bad thing if it's done right. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Adam NaymanAug 1, 2013
Wahlberg, whose dim-bulb act was over-exposed in Pain and Gain, fares better here in a more heroic role. Stig is a hothead and a narcissist, but he’s also just a little bit smarter than he looks. The same goes for 2 Guns as a whole. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanAug 1, 2013
The director mixes the colors of his palette carefully. He uses (but never overuses) slow-motion, aerial shots, extreme close-ups and quick cuts, avoiding any self-consciously “stylish” display. He varies the pace of scenes and the angle of shots enough to keep the movie flowing, but we never feel we’re watching someone show us how clever he is. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliAug 1, 2013
The movie is loud, fun, quick moving, and features some nice acting turns. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisAug 1, 2013
Mr. Kormakur sets and keeps up a fast rather than frantic pace that never runs the movie off the rails even when the story nearly does. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirAug 1, 2013
2 Guns is both enjoyable trash and a fascinating snapshot of Hollywood’s current mentality when it comes to the United States government. Read full review
70
The DissolveKeith PhippsAug 1, 2013
Kormákur lets his stars balance the buddy-movie levity with just enough dramatic weight to keep it grounded, and his directing style seems like a conscious corrective to the disorienting cutting and obvious CGI effects that have come to dominate Hollywood action films. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeJul 30, 2013
The picture survives its excesses thanks to winning chemistry between stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, who animate banter-heavy dialogue and click so well one wonders why they haven't shared the screen before. Read full review
70
VarietyScott FoundasJul 30, 2013
Kormakur shows he knows his way around an action movie better than most, keeping the pace quick, the banter lively and the old-school, mostly CGI-free thrills delivering right on schedule. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenJul 31, 2013
Maybe it’s just an expression of relief after a summer of superheroes and fantasy scenarios, but 2 Guns is a refreshing blast. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaAug 1, 2013
With border crossings and familiar buddy-cop movie tropes (think Lethal Weapon, think 48 HRS, think The Heat), the Wahlberg-Washington express hits lots of comfortably familiar notes. And more than a few viciously uncomfortable ones, too. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 1, 2013
The actors — including Patton as Bobby's DEA colleague and sometime fling — cannot act what is not there. But with Washington, Wahlberg, Olmos and Paxton around jockeying for dominance, the standoffs have their moments. Read full review
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