3 Days to Kill

I'm sorry, but is there any more bland, unimpressive actor than Kevin Costner? Whether it's as forgettable as Water World or "memorable" (cough) as Man of Steel, he always seems to act with such a bland passion of himself. It's borderline endearing. Borderline.

What happens when a bland man is a bland father character fighting for his daughters acceptance? Bland things. Seriously, there's not a single moment in this film with any passion from Costner. Finding his daughter at a party she lied about going to? He blandly drags her out. How about seeing her about to be raped? He'll save you, and all with a dead looking face. What's that? There's a girl trapped in a well? Okay.

But what about when there's a spy story too?! Like, he's dying from a disease, and he's approached by a woman who asks him to kill a man he tried to kill with his time in the CIA, promising a potential cure if he succeeds. AND he's trying to win over his daughter. Well, he's just as emotionless as ever. And sadly, no one else seems to really be pouring out that much into this movie save the rest of his family. And in particular, there's a boyfriend who seems like a nice guy and kind of is a nice guy, but then it sort of spins him into an incomprehensible plot thread about him being somehow more important than the rest of film played him up to be...but he's not. Really. He's not important at all.

I can't say I DIDN'T like 3 Days To Kill. It had some super cool action shots, a fun car chase or two, and a cool climax. But with a movie titled 3 Days To Kill, you think you'd see more violence. Especially from a February action flick. But no, this movie spends barely any time with showdowns and corny car chases, opting instead to spend far more time showing the relationship between Costner and his daughter. This would have worked far better if it advertised itself as a film like 50/50, Dallas Buyers Club, or even movies like Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. These are movies with defined endings, where the inevitability of the ending has a perception that cannot be changed. And it doesn't matter if they do change, if there is a happy ending. But this movie so obviously sets itself up to end exactly as we know it will. So the whole time, I question the necessity for parental bonding. We all know he's gonna live.

3 Days To Kill is a failure as a spy flick and a failure as a story about family bonding. It was okay somewhere in the middle, but I can't help thinking that it really could have been successful.

Rank - 2/5