By MadMax673

There’s probably something about the number 3 that gives Kevin Costner an instant woody.

Back then, it was 3000 Miles to Graceland. He should’ve taken its result as a hint.

Lesson not learned, now we’re left to endure 3 Days to Kill. 🙁

Story

Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) is a CIA agent and an expert killer.

The man has never taken a sick day off for 30 odd years.

Fate plays a mean role in his life other than the CIA staff.

Our spook’s got a terminal disease that has spread throughout his lungs and the doc gives him three months. Doc slightly gets graceful and hesitantly gestures “maybe 2 months more.”

Now Ethan has to reconnect with his estranged daughter Zoey and his wife before he meets his maker.

But hey, he’s an expert killer as well.

Somehow screenwriter/producer Luc Besson along with Adi Hasak has to bring the ‘killing’ element into play.

That comes in the form of a femme fatale Vivi presumably sent by CIA who offers him an experimental drug that may increase his lifeline with a deal of killing The Wolf (Richard Sammel).

Will Ethan kill the Wolf? Will he reconnect with his daughter and wife?

That’s for you all to watch on the silver screen.

Bad Part

This movie is more of a drama as opposed to what the title or trailer or marketing/distribution drivel claims it to be.

But even the drama seems to be screwed up by careless direction.

The name “Ethan” – reminds anyone of Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible movies?

Our hero has nosebleeds, fumbles and falls down only during critical shoot outs. Rest of the time he seems alright.

Action scenes offer nothing new. You all have been there, seen it.

There isn’t a single solid set-piece that shows how skilled Ethan is in his craft.

It’s impossible to believe that CIA agents won’t spare some change to Ethan who wants to talk to his daughter over phone on her birthday. Hey, this treatment is for someone who hasn’t taken a sick day in 32 years.

To add to the agony, the experimental drug makes Ethan sicker.

Even for the sake of action the drug doesn’t seem to make him active and agile.

And the remedy that Vivi suggest is a shot of Vodka.

How can he find Vodka while he’s ill, crawling on the floor and hallucinating?

Why not Whiskey or Brandy or IPA to get his sorry unfortunate ass moving?

But surprisingly he finds the Vodka. To my misfortune, even the Vodka didn’t seem to speed things up.

Whenever Ethan is about to take any action, his phone beeps.

There is a moment where Ethan is about to torture an Italian guy and a phone call from Ethan’s daughter interrupts him and the victim ends up providing the recipe for spaghetti sauce.

Careless Direction

While there’s lot to moan about the drama, there were also some potentially good moments that didn’t make the right impact.

I am referring to the scene where Ethan and his daughter Zoey are having hot chocolate at a Paris coffee shop.

The presence of a rose in the middle was so bright that I completely lost focus on the moment between father and daughter. Wonder why director McG kept the rose there.

Rose didn’t look original either. It was too bright and looked color corrected.

Acting was so-so. None of the actors stood out.

Kevin Costner was far better and charming in Mr.Brooks.

Cinematography was okay.

The song during the ending, The Sweet Disposition (The Temper Trap), was good.

Rating

There were seven people for the evening premiere.

I guess Kevin Costner lost his fans due to his poor choice.

Watch 3 Days to Kill at your own risk.