Bullet Points: Bullet (2014)
Do you ever wonder what your life is going to be like when you get into your seventies?
I can imagine myself sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of soup, watching reruns of Blue Bloods and complaining that my living room feels drafty. Actually that describes my night last Thursday. But while some may describe me as an old soul, nobody could categorize the legendary Danny Trejo that way.
In his seventies, Danny Trejo is busier than people half his age. Trejo may be the hardest working man in show business, a title once held proudly by the late, great James Brown.
One of the many Trejo projects that have come out in the past few years is the subject of this edition of Bullet Points… Bullet.
- Flipping the Script: Danny Trejo plays Frank “Bullet” Marasco, an unorthodox cop who gets results and puts the bad guys behind bars, like maverick cops are known to do. Seeing Danny Trejo in the role of a cop was a first for me as all the Trejo characters I have seen in the past have been on the other side of the law. I enjoyed seeing Trejo in this new light and I have to give him one of the highest compliments I could possibly give a person when I say as Bullet he had sort of a Latino Charles Bronson vibe. The Bullet character is not completely one dimensional and is given a little depth. We learn that Marasco is in recovery, he attends meetings and is actively working the steps and encouraging others to do so, including his daughter. Marasco is also a proud grandfather who loves to spoil his grandson Mario. But it isn’t long before his crime fighting life and his family life collide.
- Raising Kane: Carlito Kane (Jonathan Banks) is not only a drug dealing crime boss, he is also a desperate man. His son, who was arrested by Marasco years earlier, is on death row and is now just days away from being executed. So Carlito hatches a diabolical plan to save his son the convicted murderer. First he kidnaps the Governor’s daughter, using her as a pawn to get Governor Johnson, played by John Savage of CIA II: Target Alexa and Red Scorpion 2 fame, to order a stay of execution for his boy, Manuel. Then he kidnaps Marasco’s grandson Mario. Carlito arranges a meeting with Marasco to discuss the terms for the safe return of his grandson. The only way Carlito will return Mario to his mother unharmed is if Marasco confesses to the murders that Manuel Kane was convicted of… oh and one other thing, Marasco also has to sign a suicide note… but just as it appears that Marasco is going to sign the note, he takes the pen and stabs Carlito’s right hand man Kruger in the eye with the pen! And then the action really picks up!
- The Table is Set: Marasco definitely has his hands full now. Carlito Kane wants him dead. Marasco’s signed “confession” made it to the attorney general’s office, so now he has his fellow cops and the feds after him. And if that isn’t enough, his daughter is pissed because her son was kidnapped on Marasco’s watch. Most people would crack under this kind of pressure but most people are not Frank “Bullet” Marasco. And this is the type of situation that unorthodox, maverick cops excel in!
Bullet is another great example of characters making a movie work. The story in Bullet has been told many times before, but what makes the movie enjoyable is the work of the two main actors, Danny Trejo and Jonathan Banks. The two Breaking Bad alumnus, play well off of one another and they create a feeling of anticipation as the audience waits for the two of them to have their final showdown.
If you have 87 minutes to kill and want to watch Danny Trejo deliver some justice, then give Bullet a look. And you may also want to look at these bonus Bullet Bullet Points…
- World’s Tallest Henchman?: Carlito Kane’s right hand man, Kruger, is played by the German born Torsten Voges. Voges stands at impressive 6’9″ making him one of action entertainment’s tallest henchman. I believe the tallest henchman ever would have to be Jaws (Richard Kiel) in the James Bond films, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker. Kiel stood at a massive 7’2″!
- Action Dictionary: A “Mexican Interrogation” takes place when you make a person sit on a gas can filled with gas and aim the gun at said gas can as you ask them questions.
- If You Ever: …wanted to see Danny Trejo shoot a woman in a bath tub then this is the movie for you.
- Cage Fighter: A portion of the movie that seemed to be thrown in just to pad the run time had Frank doing some cage fighting on the side. I’m sure they felt it would make “Bullet” seem like even more of a bad ass, but Trejo naturally looks like a bad ass and it bordered on overkill.
- The Name Game: This is not the first movie titled Bullet. Who could ever forget Bullet (1996) starring Mickey Rourke and Tupac Shakur? And the Scott Adkins’ film El Gringo was released as Bullet in Canada.
