Double Oscar winner Sean Penn could hardly be held in higher regard by critics and fans so it was a surprise to many when he decided to do the full Liam Neeson and switch over to action movies.

The Gunman is even directed by the guy who did Taken, Pierre Morel.

And action fans will be pleased with what they’ve created – a muscular, pulse racer that could be Penn’s audition for the next Expendables.

The Gunman starts in the violent and corrupt Democratic Republic of Congo, where Sean Penn’s ex-forces mercenary Jim Terrier takes on an assassination which forces him to flee the country (and leave his girlfriend).



Eight years later – his brain suffering the effects of multiple concussions and his memory failing him – he’s doing humanitarian work when armed militia come for him. Someone has sold him out.

He’s forced to pick up a gun again and go on the run to survive and get to the bottom of why he’s being hunted – kinda like the Bourne Senility.

It’s all fairly familiar stuff but it’s fairly engagingly told with decent pacing.

Along the way Penn’s Terrier gets help – and meets obstacles – from a far better than average cast which includes Londoners Ray Winstone, (blink and you’ll miss him) Idris Elba, Kent’s Mark Rylance (a bit hammy) and slippery Javier Bardem.

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At 54, Penn is old to be embarking on a career as an action star but, as with Neeson, his character is not superhuman. Plus, he’s ripplingly buff.

Like the Peugeot 205 that Jim Terrier drives, The Gunman does what it sets out to do well but suffers with a bit of rust. A bit of star power gives it oomph...so it’s like an old Peugeot 205 GTi. Sort of. Put that on a poster.

THREE out of five stars.

The Gunman (15) it out Friday, March 20.