海角大神

Director McG鈥檚 most recent theatrical release was 鈥� a romantic comedy mashed together with a spy action vehicle 鈥� whereas Luc Besson鈥檚 best-known work of late has been the movies; a series of father/daughter dramas explored by way of a Euro-thriller template (with political overtones), which Besson co-wrote and produced.

Maybe it鈥檚 appropriate then that McG and Besson鈥檚 upcoming collaboration, , looks and feels like a mashup of elements from their most recent projects. The film stars Kevin Costner 鈥� fresh off playing a more complex Jonathan 鈥楶a鈥� Kent in this year鈥檚 Superman movie reboot 鈥� as Ethan Runner, an international spy who must perform two dangerous (well, in a manner of speaking) assignments: carry out his final mission 鈥� tracking down the world鈥檚 most wanted terrorist 鈥� and look after his estranged teen daughter (Hailee Steinfeld), while his ex-wife (Connie Nielsen) is out of town.

As the 3 Days to Kill trailer establishes, the script from Besson and聽Adi Hasak () gives Runner additional motivation: he may only have a few days left to live, unless he successfully pulls off that coveted 鈥榦ne last job鈥� for the government. Rounding out the ensemble is Amber Heard (), as Runner鈥檚 coworker, who provides him with the necessary medical supplement to keep himself alive 鈥� for now, anyway.

Besides the components derived from previous action B-movies 鈥� like the screen story that even features a聽Crank-style twist聽- the聽3 Days to Kill聽trailer footage makes the film look more like an McG action/comedy that a Besson creation. Consider, for example, the running joke where Costner attempts to balance his crazy professional lifestyle with being a normal father; that鈥檚 par the course for the director behind the聽Charlie鈥檚 Angels movies and This Means War - less so with Besson鈥檚 more off-beat and quirky humor.

Indeed, Besson鈥檚 movies 鈥� good and bad 鈥� generally have a more satirical vibe and/or darkly comical jabs at social/political humor (see: ), whereas 3 Days to Kill seems more like a blend of intentionally over the top action with a sitcom center. That might just be a bit of misdirection for marketing purposes 鈥� though if not, the pairing of award-winner Costner and Steinfeld (who has continued to impress this year in and ) may be enough to sell the whole thing鈥� maybe.

Sandy Schaefer blogs at .