3 Days to Kill

Relativity Media | Release Date: February 21, 2014

5.7	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 133 Ratings

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Tss5078Jun 29, 2014

3 Days To Kill was promoted in a very misleading way. The previews, the description, even the cover of the DVD make it sound like an exciting thriller. They even manipulated the name of the film, to make it seem like one thing, when it really3 Days To Kill was promoted in a very misleading way. The previews, the description, even the cover of the DVD make it sound like an exciting thriller. They even manipulated the name of the film, to make it seem like one thing, when it really meant another. The story centers around Ethan Renner, (Kevin Costner) a man who has spent his entire life killing people for the CIA. Renner has found that he only has a short time to live and wants to spend his remaining time with the family he's largely abandoned. His retirement is short lived however, as his old bosses at the CIA promise to help with his medical care if he'll do one last job, a job he doesn't want his family to know about. 3 Days To Kill was made to look like the dying agent had 3 Days To Kill his target, but that's not true at all. The title refers to him spending 3 days with the daughter he hasn't seen in 10 years. Like everyone else, I was fooled by the films promotion and decided to see it, even though Kevin Costner stars. I forgot the fact that Costner hasn't made a decent film in about fifteen years, and assumed that 3 Days To Kill would lead him away from romantic films and be a return to what made him a star, but it wasn't. The action and intensity of a CIA thriller is a back story, to a film about a dying man reconnecting with his family. It wasn't as boring or depressing as a full on drama, following a similar storyline, but it wasn't far off. Much of the hunt for his target was used as comedy to break up the monotony of watching Renner teaching his daughter to dance and ride a bicycle. To be honest, the film really is just a whole mix of things, none of which work. The cast is dreadful, the story is all over the place, and the film is just ridiculous. 3 Days To Kill was a horrible experience, and not only did I hate this film, I feel like I was tricked into watching it, by some clever marketing people, who knew the film was **** You can decide for yourself, but if you could use an extra two hours to do something you've been putting off, I'd skip this movie and get it done.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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LowbrowCinemaFeb 23, 2014

It's time to once again slam director McG. 3 DAYS TO A KILL has a witty script, game cast, and fun locales, all undermined by tepid and incoherent direction. Everything is wrong and it is the director's fault. At least let's cut out 20It's time to once again slam director McG. 3 DAYS TO A KILL has a witty script, game cast, and fun locales, all undermined by tepid and incoherent direction. Everything is wrong and it is the director's fault. At least let's cut out 20 minutes. That would make for a mildly satisfying B-movie.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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KENXAVIDec 8, 2014

Without a doubt, one of the worst films of 2014. The first thing I noticed was the cinematography, which was awful. It had this terrible combination of a sunny day, but with a grey color correction that just made it look muddy. The plot isWithout a doubt, one of the worst films of 2014. The first thing I noticed was the cinematography, which was awful. It had this terrible combination of a sunny day, but with a grey color correction that just made it look muddy. The plot is nonsensical and some moments were just hilariously bad. The actors did a fairly good job, especially Kevin Costner, who was probably the only good thing out of this film. The editing is clunky, with some scenes that just felt illogically put together. I've pretty much given up on MCG. Aside from some well made action sequences and a charming Kevin Costner as the main character, it's terrible. DON'T WATCH IT.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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ThegodfathersonFeb 22, 2014

Stealing a discarded page from Liam Neeson’s action hero playbook, which began with 2008’s Taken and continues next week with the airplane thriller Non-Stop, Costner stars as a badass old dude kicking butt in 3 Days to Kill. It wouldn’t be soStealing a discarded page from Liam Neeson’s action hero playbook, which began with 2008’s Taken and continues next week with the airplane thriller Non-Stop, Costner stars as a badass old dude kicking butt in 3 Days to Kill. It wouldn’t be so bad if Costner didn’t take the material so seriously. He scowls and grimaces in many of the scenes he’s in. And I’ll admit there are brief flashes that remind us how good he was once upon a time in The Untouchables, Dances with Wolves, A Perfect World and The Bodyguard.… Expand

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

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ScribeHardMay 27, 2014

Two things you don’t want in an action/drama/thriller are absurdity and mundanity. Unfortunately, 3 Days to Kill has plenty of both, and both rear their crazy, boring heads during the opening gambit.

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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kabalaMay 20, 2014

This movie could have easily been called, "two hours to kill". Because it was a complete waste of time. Even as a long time Kevin Costner fan the only thing that kept me watching this movie was to see if it could get any worse. Absolutely hisThis movie could have easily been called, "two hours to kill". Because it was a complete waste of time. Even as a long time Kevin Costner fan the only thing that kept me watching this movie was to see if it could get any worse. Absolutely his worst movie, this is the kind of movie that ends careers. All I can say is I hope he got paid lots of money for this want to be action thriller. If I could given this movie a negative rating I would. If the airline was playing this movie on the plane I'd jump out.

For anyone who gave this movie a positive rating would be like some boxing matches where the fight is completely one sided, and you have this one judge who calls the fight the 115-114 and everyone is like, "what fight was he watching???" The folks who gave this movie a positive rating must have been watching another movie, or if they were lucky they feel asleep after the first ten minutes.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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GrymloreJan 30, 2015

"3 Days To Kill" is Archer without the humor and style - just silly and unbelievable action scenes. A complete waste of time. I expected so much more from Luc Besson and McG.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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FilmClubMar 27, 2016

Luc Besson recruits McG and Kevin Costner for a fatally compromised tale of an American spy in Paris.

The setup plays as if someone (presumably Besson, who is credited with the story and co-wrote the script with “From Paris With Love”Luc Besson recruits McG and Kevin Costner for a fatally compromised tale of an American spy in Paris.

The setup plays as if someone (presumably Besson, who is credited with the story and co-wrote the script with “From Paris With Love” scribe Adi Hasak) decided to graft the central father/daughter relationship from “The Descendants” onto a Eurotrashy action framework. Superstar CIA field agent Ethan Renner (Costner) spends so much time on the job that he’s completely missed watching his daughter, Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld), blossom into a sophisticated teenager. After he’s diagnosed with a fatal illness, Ethan retires and resolves to spend more time with his family in Paris, offering to watch Zooey for a weekend while his estranged wife, Christine (Connie Nielsen), is away. But retirement isn’t so easy for a man of Ethan’s skills, and he’s promptly recruited by the mysterious Vivi (Amber Heard), who needs his help in the hunt for a terrorist mastermind in exchange for experimental drugs that could give Ethan a second lease on life.

The conflict between the finesse Ethan demonstrates in his professional duties and the complete incompetence with which he approaches parenting is meant to be comedic, although the film doesn’t have the light touch of similar spy-family action-laffers like “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” “True Lies” or McG’s own “This Means War.” Instead, “3 Days to Kill” proves surprisingly po-faced about trying to build the bond between Ethan and Zooey, even in the midst of moments as goofy as Dad consoling his daughter on a bad hair day, teaching her to dance or buying her a purple bicycle just because that was her favorite color as a kid. The sentimental approach almost works, thanks to the best efforts of Costner and the naturally spunky Steinfeld, who may have made a respectable pair given better material to work with.

As it is, the lukewarm family dynamics sit awkwardly alongside equally underwhelming action sequences. Recent supporting turns in “Man of Steel” and “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” aside, Costner isn’t generally associated with the action genre — he’s more of a “Waterworld”/”Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” epic-adventure guy — and the rote heroics he undertakes here won’t do much to change that. On multiple occasions, the audience simply witnesses the aftermath of Ethan’s handiwork as repped by bodies lying motionless on the floor. The notable exceptions arrive in a brief but slickly executed one-on-one skirmish in a grocery store’s deli section (complete with resourceful use of the meat grinder and panini press) and a bracingly staged car chase in the middle of a Parisian neighborhood inspired by Claude Lelouch’s “Rendezvous” and John Frankenheimer’s “Ronin.”

That chase makes a lovely pairing with McG’s other standout sequence: a montage of Ethan riding the bike he bought for Zooey through the city streets and parking near the Eiffel Tower. It’s a sweet divertissement for the typically boisterous director, who overall reins in the bombastic giddiness of his “Charlie’s Angels” pictures and abandons the soulless spectacle of “Terminator: Salvation” to make an action film that’s downright restrained by his standards. Unfortunately, in this case the restraint reads as overly safe. “3 Days to Kill” is quite literally bloodless — the fight sequences in “Taken” packed a far more potent punch even with the same PG-13 rating — which seems like a missed opportunity. The juxtaposition of Ethan’s violent work and gentler paternal side might have added some desperately needed intrigue to the banal story.

The filmmakers certainly don’t find any of the intended mystery in Ethan’s fitful encounters with the femme-fatale-ish Vivi, a severely under-realized character who never makes any sense despite Heard’s arduous efforts to vamp it up. Nielsen’s thankless skeptical spouse role is even less significant, while Tomas Lemarquis and Richard Sammel bring nothing beyond menacing visages to their bland terrorist baddies. It’s a running gag that Ethan seeks parenting advice from just about anyone he encounters, which offers decent moments for character actors Eriq Ebouaney as the African paterfamilias in a family squatting in Ethan’s semi-abandoned apartment, and Marc Andreoni as a Middle Eastern limo driver linked to the villains.

Although the film’s tech package is reliably proficient, one would have hoped for more onscreen fireworks from the union of ultra-American McG and Costner with French mainstay Besson. Alas, this European vacation is a time-killer of the most mundane variety.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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