Guns Up

Directed by Edward Drake, Guns Up follows a mob enforcer (Kevin James’ Ray Hayes) as he’s forced to go on the offensive after he and his family are targeted by rival gangsters. It’s solid subject matter that’s employed to watchable (albeit entirely forgettable) effect by Drake, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, delivers an erratically-paced thriller that’s often bogged down in needlessly convoluted plot happenings – with Drake’s apparent efforts at replicating the tone and feel of John Wick (and its sequels) contributing heavily to the stale atmosphere. (It doesn’t help, either, that the picture suffers from dimly-lit visuals and a recurring emphasis on needless, ineffective bursts of comedy.) There’s little doubt, then, that Guns Up improves slightly once it progresses into a more straightforward, action-oriented midsection and second half, and while Drake is never quite able to generate the excitement and thrills one might’ve anticipated, the picture, anchored by James’ solid turn as the tough-guy protagonist, nevertheless manages to cement its place as a decent-enough endeavor that could (and should) have been streamlined.

**1/2 out of ****