It’s easy to dismiss Sylvester Stallone as nothing more than an action star, even if his most iconic roles started rather humbly. It’s easy to forget that both Rocky and First Blood are straightforward character dramas that relied on emotionally nuanced performances from Stallone; they just happened to inspire massive action franchises. Stallone’s work became less exciting within the last few decades, as he began choosing roles that didn’t require as much of him as a performer. However, Stallone proved that he still had a great performance left in him with the criminally underrated 2013 thriller Bullet to the Head. Although it has been exciting to see Stallone return to familiar franchises with Rambo: Last Blood and Creed, Bullet to the Head proved that he still can create new action heroes.
After watching their respective partners die, a New Orleans hitman and a Washington, D.C. detective form an alliance in order to bring down their common enemy.
‘Bullet to the Head’ Is a Darker Sylvester Stallone Movie
Bullet to the Head ditches the typical New York setting of Sylvester Stallone’s films for the dirty, crime-ridden streets of New Orleans for its opening sequence. Stallone’s character, Jimmy Bobo, doesn’t have any advanced training or combat skills that distinguish him in comparison to other cops. Bobo also lacks the moral altruism that defined so many of Stallone’s roles. In the opening moments, Bobo works alongside his partner Louis Blanchard (Jon Seda) to take out a corrupt cop (Mindhunter’s Holt McCallany). It’s a terrific opening sequence that shows that Bobo is willing to do the sort of “dirty work” that rookies or idealists wouldn’t, since he isn’t either. Bobo has put his life’s work into this job, but not all of that work has been strictly “heroic.”
What makes these opening moments so striking is how radically different they are from a majority of Stallone’s other work. One of the reasons that he became such an iconic action star in the 1980s and 1990s was his moral altruism; Stallone’s characters were super-sized heroes who were always on the right side of the law. Even the violent extremes that John Rambo went to felt justified within the context of the movies; Rocky always fought for his country, his family, and his friends. The motivations of Bobo are completely different. He’s just doing his best to survive in a bitter world.
Bullet to the Head showcases a nonverbal, vulnerable version of Stallone that he hadn’t shown since James Mangold’s underrated crime thriller Copland. An issue with films like The Expendables and Get Carter was the cheap, silly one-liners that Stallone was forced to deliver; they felt completely unrealistic for an actor of such sensitivity. While Bobo is a much different character compared to Rocky and Rambo, he shares their quiet sensitivity. Bobo has a hard time expressing himself, but the rare instances in which he does are quite profound. Bobo has learned to distrust the men around him due to the deep-seated corruption within the ranks of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia. He can be forgiven for not wanting to form any personal relationships with other members of the organization.
Sylvester Stallone Is Vulnerable in ‘Bullet to the Head’
Bullet to the Head hails from crime movie maestro Walter Hill, a veteran of the genre whose past classics include The Driver, The Warriors, and the bizarre sequel Another 48. Hrs. Hill does a great job at crafting gritty, brutal fight sequences with a film that exudes seediness. Hill focuses on what goes on behind closed doors, and there’s nothing about Bullet to the Head that feels idealized. It was the perfect role for Stallone at this point in his career. While he had revisited franchises like Rocky and Rambo, Bullet to the Head felt like a throwback to his roles in classic crime films like F.I.S.T. and Nighthawks.
Sylvester Stallone’s advancing age meant that his ego had to be in check. Bullet to the Head may have the stamina of a modern action film, but it doesn’t suggest that Bobo shares the physical capabilities of a young man. He’s been burned by a career in the service, and although this gives him experience, it also means that his body has been severely damaged throughout his lifetime. Bobo is often at the losing end of fights, and even the ones that he wins leave him severely scarred. It felt like the complete opposite of what Stallone was doing only a few years earlier in The Expendables; while the geriatric action franchise had asked him to essentially be a superhero, Bullet the the Head allowed him to be vulnerable again.
Sylvester Stallone Passes the Torch to Jason Momoa in ‘Bullet to the Head’
Although he felt more vulnerable, Sylvester Stallone has still passed along a few lessons to the next generation of action stars. In Bullet to the Head, he gets to share a few brutal fight sequences with Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa. Momoa co-stars as Keegan, a mercenary who’s been hired by the crime lord Robert Nkomo Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) to kill Bobo. Bobo’s motivations for taking down Keegan are personal, as he was responsible for the death of his partner Blanchard. While Blanchard and Bobo weren’t exactly “close” on an emotional level, working alongside another cop for so long generated a sense of loyalty. Bobo feels that he owes it to Blanchard to see Keegan face the consequences of his actions.
The battle between Bobo and Keegan is unquestionably the film’s highlight; in many ways, Momoa appears to be giving a performance that resembles one that Stallone himself could have given during the peak of his career. Both characters have a signature nastiness and try to inflict as much pain upon each other as possible. While this felt like a throwback to his earlier work for Stallone, it felt like Momoa was allowed to play things darker than the DC franchise had ever allowed him to. It felt like a “passing of the torch” moment from one action giant to another.
Sylvester Stallone the movie star gets a lot of credit, but Stallone the actor is still underrated. Bullet to the Head showed that the “Italian Stallion” was still capable of giving emotional, dramatically realized performances that shed a spotlight on dark characters. The fact that he also gets to beat up bad guys is almost beside the point!
Bullet to the Head is available to stream on Max in the U.S.