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21st June 2014
04:30pm BST

Unfortunately for Costner, the projects he has worked on for the last few years, although not huge successes have turned out some critically acclaimed performances like his turn as Jack Dolan in The Company Men or Jonathan Kent in the Superman reboot, Man of Steel but Costner needed a new starring role and someone obviously decided he should take a trip to Neeson-ville where all older actors can become action stars.
3 Days to Kill revolves around Costner's character Ethan Renner, an older CIA agent who on finding out he only has a matter of months to live decides to return to his family in Paris and make amends for abandoning them years before. But there is always one last job... Renner is soon tracked down by a CIA employee who wants him to help with a target that they just can't pin down, the Wolf. In exchange for his help with the job, they will provide him with a treatment for his illness which will prolong his life.
Still with us? First off, 3 Days to Kill is very much in the same vein as Taken, an older assassin with a history of abandoning his family who suddenly wants to do the right thing. However, besides that the film can't really decide if it is an action film or a family drama and has a hard time keeping up with both plot lines. It does make the entire affair pretty entertaining but there are more laughs here than you would expect for a film like this.
The female characters all conform to stereotypes, the bad-ass and really hot assassin who is solelyout for herself, the wayward daughter and the abandoned wife. There is literally no character development here whatsoever. Even Costner's character arc is completely predictable, he seems to be here for the fun of the process.
The action scenes are few and far between, this is very much an agent in the latter part of his career and his ability to take down people quickly and efficiently is often adhered to but never really proven, particularly at the beginning. His illness prevents him from working to his full potential. In fact, you may begin to wonder why Amber Heard's character cannot just do this job herself if she is so amazing.
Overall, a bit of a mess but slightly enjoyable in parts with some reasonable performances. You won't hate it, we're just not sure you will like it that much either.