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Feb 21, 2014 · Reviews. 3 Days to Kill. Glenn Kenny February 21, 2014. Tweet. "3 Days to Kill" Now streaming on: Powered by JustWatch. Director McG and producer Luc Besson just can’t drag Kevin Costner down to their level, try as they might.
Feb 21, 2014 · Rated: 2.5/5 Aug 25, 2022 Full Review Kip Mooney College Movie Review That the CIA has a quick-acting cure for cancer is only the fifth or sixth most implausible thing in this movie.
- (1.4K)
- Mcg
- PG-13
- Kevin Costner
Courtesy of Relativity. Even international spies have trouble balancing work and family life, according to “ 3 Days to Kill ,” the latest lightweight action pic from writer-producer Luc...
- Killer dad.
- Verdict
By Jim Vejvoda
Posted: Feb 20, 2014 8:04 pm
Kevin Costner plays an aging government operative in 3 Days to Kill, the latest product from the Luc Besson action factory. Costner plays Ethan Renner (I can only imagine that Besson must have been watching Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol when writing the story), a CIA operative with health problems and an estranged family he's trying to make peace with even as he chases down some Euro-scumbags out to get their hands on a dirty bomb.
Ethan's estranged wife Tina (Connie Nielsen) and teenage daughter Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld) live in Paris and, wouldn't you know it, his mission also just so happens to take place there, too. Ethan thinks he's now deactivated due to his health issues, but his contact in the field -- the very out-there femme fatale Vivi (Amber Heard) -- makes him the proverbial offer he can't refuse. Chases, shootouts, and brawls ensue even as Ethan tries to get to know the daughter his work's kept him away from all these years, a young woman who also doesn't know what her father really does for a living,
Director McG (Charlie's Angels, Terminator Salvation) stages some decent action set-pieces and goes for a moody '70s vibe in some areas, but the movie's tone and story are jarringly disjointed. It's trying to be a melodramatic and occasionally cheesy father-daughter (and estranged husband-wife) tale, a Taken/Bourne-style gritty action thriller, and a quirky '90s-style action comedy but only with intermittently effective results.
Amber Heard walked in from some other film entirely, giving a very broad, vampy performance as Vivi, who dresses like she might be doing Mia Wallace or La Femme Nikita cosplay at a few points. There's an interesting idea to her character established at the very start where we see her as a pretty ordinary CIA headquarters worker. There's nothing colorful about her, but when she's out in the field she's suddenly wearing dramatic wigs and outfits and driving fast. Is she someone who only comes alive when she's in the field? Is she someone whose only idea of field work comes from the movies she's seen? Is she living out some sort of fantasy then? We've no idea, but that idea would've been worth exploring (even if it belongs in a different film). Instead, we get a very confusing pseudo-femme fatale who ultimately doesn't pose much of a threat to either the hero or the villains.
There's a rather sweet (okay, saccharine) father-daughter story, anchored by Kevin Costner and Hailee Steinfeld, at the heart of the all-over the-place action flick 3 Days to Kill.
Featured review. 7/10. Exciting and funny action flick. A terminally ill former CIA agent is given one last assignment in exchange for an experimental hallucinogenic drug that may extend his life, and he struggles to reconnect with his teenage daughter with the time he has left.
- Mcg
- 1 min
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 24, 2014. Rotten Tomatoes, home of the Tomatometer, is the most trusted measurement of quality for Movies & TV. The definitive site for Reviews,...
3 Days to Kill is a 2014 action thriller film directed by McG and written by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak. It stars Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Richard Sammel, and Eriq Ebouaney. It was released on 21 February 2014, received mixed reviews, and grossed $52.6 million against its $28 million budget.
