The Way of the Gun: Critic Reviews

Stylish and intelligent.

Stillborn.

Works better in entertaining fits and starts than as a whole. It doesn't resonate much beyond the here and now, even if the shotgun blasts ring in your ears for a good long while.

In a way, [McQuarrie] almost seems motivated by the same things that drive his killers: desperation and loot.

Like his characters, McQuarrie's film has two faces: It is overplotted and it is crisply directed.

Before you rush out to see what all the noise is about, though, know that The Way of the Gun mounts more aural bullets, swagger and pretense than substance.

Where The Way of the Gun falters seriously is its too-leisurely pacing.

Both the picture and its nefarious plot seem self-consciously calculated.

Exceptionally violent movie -- not for kids.

It boastfully claims roaring, bloodletting gunfire to do Sam Peckinpah proud, Joe Kraemer's throbbing percussive score (proving timpani should get more melodies) and any number of quotable, slick dialogue snippets. Swaggering, verbose, soulful and badass.

An odd mingling of the old and the no-longer-quite-so-new, a picture that shows flashes of wit but as a whole doesn't hang together.

It wants to keep you guessing, but there are so many twists and turns that I gave up trying to guess.

one hell of a sick, exhilarating roller coaster ride through Modern Film Noire Land

The movie has a bunch of great individual scenes, but as a whole, the thing never gels.

Wants to be one of these violent, manly yet provocative films, but unfortunately it unfurls as more of a big budgeted student film; a collage of borrowed images paying homage to great directors.

Brutal scenes are undercut with lyricism and deadpan wit.

A two-hour marathon of deceit, murder and mayhem with absolutely no point or interest.

A wild, gory tale full of violence, to be sure. But it is also full of intrigue, and the distinctive stamp of a born storyteller.

Certainly, [it] has a passive watchability but it never does anything new or different with its material

This to me is what seeing movies is all about. I was thoroughly entertained and had no idea what was coming next.

Pleasing in the most superficial of ways.

So well-written, so clever, so innovative, and so aware of its place in the grand scheme of things that it is strangely empty of anything except technical skill.

McQuarrie's entire roster strains the limits of character likability to the breaking point, and no amount of plot twists, double-crosses, or hidden alliances can help us relate to or even tolerate anyone on screen.

replaces Tarantino's hip polish with a grave existentialism that is more reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah or the early films of William Friedkin

The screenplay has some great dialogue and some memorable scenes. But the story was just too confusing.