Die in a Gunfight Movie Review

Die in a Gunfight (2021)

Rent Die in a Gunfight on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Andrew Barrer & Gabriel Ferrari
Directed by: Collin Schiffli
Starring: Diego Boneta, Alexandra Daddario, Justin Chatwin, Billy Crudup, Travis Fimmel
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
In New York City, a young guy falls for the daughter of his father's nemesis.

Verdict
If this movie was half as cool as it thought it was, this would be one fun ride. It isn't. The plot is thin, focusing on star-crossed lovers and not much else. The colorful characters aren't that intriguing. This is the draft to something that could be really neat, it just needs an overhaul.
Skip it.

Review
This throws a lot of style at you early on. There's an animated introduction and title cards for character, but it's soon clear that the animation is a way to dress up and distract from lengthy exposition.

Diego Boneta plays Ben Gibbon

The plot of this movie is the relationship between Ben (Diego Boneta) and Mary (Alexandra Daddario). The movie dances around the main plot, with subplots that are just fluff to fill time and distract from the fact that the main plot is thin. There aren't any likable characters or anybody you want to win.

This movie is trying mightily to be cool, but it just doesn't work. I was expecting awesome fights and fun characters risking it all. Maybe Ben and Kate would be on the run from their feuding fathers. I was hoping for something like Taken if not quite a bit more over the top. So little happens in this movie. Why does Ben enjoying getting beaten up without fighting back? The movie states because he wants to feel alive, but that's nonsense. It's an attempt to sound deep. This easily could have had Ben as listless until Mary returns, and then his love is rekindled and he fights his way to her. That's what I expected based on the name. On that alone, this movie didn't really deliver.

Alexandra Daddario plays Mary Rathcart

All this movie does is make me think about movie that try to be cool. Kate was more of what I was expecting except with a romance. Kate certainly feels inspired by John Wick, and this could have taken some notes from that. Give Ben a goal that's difficult to reach. 

The characters forced to be colorful just come across as try-hard. I certainly expected Ben's best friend Mukul (Wade Allain-Marcus) to have more to do. There's a lot of way this movie could have played out, and I think I'd prefer any of those to what we got.