Taken writer/producer Luc Besson is helping Kevin Costner regain some of his action movie credibility with 3 Days to Kill, a thriller set in Europe and featuring a lot of bare-knuckle, mano-a-mano action. In the film, due out February 21, Costner plays the aptly-named Ethan Runner, an ex-Secret Service agent who must finish one last mission in exchange for a drug that can save his life.
The trailer for McG’s latest is now online and it looks, at some instances, like an average actioner, a rip-off of films like Taken and The Transporter (also produced by Besson). However, buoying this conventional-looking film above the “one last score” archetypes is the relationship between Costner and his daughter Zoe, played by Hailee Steinfeld.
As per the title, Costner has a 72-hour deadline to find a ruthless terrorist. During these three days, Runner gets hallucinations from a sickness that slows him down during the manhunt. Meanwhile, further distracting him from this goal is the responsibility of looking after his daughter, who does not know he is a hitman. The trailer shows off some sly humour when Runner has to avoid letting his daughter find out his true occupation.
3 Days to Kill feels familiar, although some of the action sequences look very slick (like facsimiles of exciting moments from the Bourne series) and the film’s two stars both have the potential to elevate the material. Costner especially looks like he is having a blast as a kick-ass action hero – a refrain from his dour Jonathan Kent in Man of Steel and more in line with his award-winning turn in Hatfields and McCoys.
Amber Heard, meanwhile, looks stiff in comparison to the Oscar-winning actor, but she still provides good eye candy, and a script from Luc Besson and Adi Hasak (From Paris With Love) promises pure excitement and lots of action through some of Paris’s avenues and city centres.
Check out the trailer below and let us know if you’ll be catching 3 Days to Kill when it hits theatres.