Sometimes, intense sequences of action are all you need to keep the audience entertained.
Sometimes, a strong sense of humor is all you need to fill the seats. And sometimes, all you need is a script centered around a man struggling to repair his broken relationship with his daughter.
3 Days to Kill attempts to combine all three into one neatly woven narrative, but, unfortunately, does not manage to pull it off due to some cliche writing and a plot that doesn’t always make perfect sense.
Kevin Costner stars as Ethan Renner, a man who just wants to repair his relationship with his family, but has to go back on his word to do so. The plot is nothing astounding but sets up the film fine. It’s the inconsistencies in the narrative that hamper the movie.
Coupled with characters and occasional jokes that feel straight out of a Monday night sitcom and we are left with a script that is lacking any interesting moments. Where the film triumphs, however, is in its action sequences and filming style. Intense fights, shootouts, and car chases deliver on the audience’s expectations for an action movie along with work behind the camera that manages to wake you up from the slower moments.
3 Days to Kill is not the worst way you could spend its running time, but there are better uses for your $10 admission. Its action sequences do all they can to make up for the weak writing, but it still never rises above the quality needed to be more than a last minute rental.
