Bookended by news clips and stock footage of Western exploitation of the people and resources of the Congo, you may be forgiven for thinking Pierre Morel’s new thriller The Gunman has larger political aspirations. This element feels tailor made for star Sean Penn, who also gets a shared screenwriting credit for helping adapt Jean-Patrick Manchette’s novel The Prone Gunman. Instead, what you get is another in a line of action vehicles for aging actors looking for a late career revitalization. Morel, is, after all, the guy who helmed Taken and helped transform Liam Neeson into an onscreen ass kicking machine, so who better to take the lead here?
