¡Armados!

Now, as I stumbled upon this 2025 action comedy titled "Guns Up" and seeing that it had Kevin James in the lead, of course I had to check it out, even without ever having heard about the movie.

Writer and director Edward Drake put together a rather enjoyable and entertaining script. It was a nicely written storyline that contained a lot of action, laughs and also character building. So it was a nice movie to sit through.

The acting in "Guns Up" was good. And with the likes of Kevin James, Christina Ricci and Luis Guzmán in the movie, of course you're in quite capable company.

With "Guns Up" being an action comedy, of course there was action in the movie, and I will say that the action sequences were nicely choreographed and executed on the screen.

This is definitely a movie that I will say is worth sitting down and spending 92 minutes on watching.

My rating of writer and director Edward Drake's 2025 movie "Guns Up" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.

And away ... gone(s) away of sorts ... well no pun intended as always. This feels like it was written by a teenager - no offense even if it sounds like it. There are so many changes - highs and lows ... really tough to connect with the people/characters ... although I was pleasantly surprised with Kevin James - you may be more familiar with him as a comedian, but he can work in action movies too - as in serious and going for ... not his first foray into the action genre.

In the end though it seems to be going back to his ... comedic roots ... but not really in the best way possible. I like that there is a twist, though to be honest I kind of felt that there was more to that character anyway .. so that reveal was nothing special .. except that it kept undermining everything before. Suspension of disbelief is quite big with this one ... the delivery of very fine dialog feels forced too ... so while there are some bangers ... they don't hit home (or restaurant for that matter or whatever else) when they are spoken ... as is said in the movie itself: Everyone wants to be a lion, until they have to do lion sh... well this at least tries to do lion ... stuff, so I guess kudos for that.

Still you can have fun with this ... some liked this (friends of mine), others were left quite cold about it ... I was not too impressed to be honest, neither super disappointed ... although I would have loved better execution (well I had to end on another pun ...)

"comedy/action"- I was waiting the whole time to laugh, the only reason we watched was for comic relief. For side jokes. Luis Guzman is the only saving grace.

But, truly, who wanted this movie? Who asked for it? We'll never know. Did KJ fund it for himself to try out a different kind of role? Story line? Boring. Interest in the characters? Non-existent.

Kevin James is not a serious action star- he should stick to comedy-action not anything remotely seriously leaning unless it's emotional seriousness later in a film (believable growth). No one will ever watch this man in a serious role even hinting as seriousness- it's not typecasting, either- he's just not good at it. I don't care if you make him bald with a cool beard, he's not good at being a serious action star/agent/etc.

Christina Ricci should fire her agent for putting her in this film. On the height of Yellowjackets, you waste her in this total nonsense plot? ZERO chemistry with Kevin James, ZERO- so there was no character love for her at all either in this movie. Oh, she's like him too... who cares. So very disappointed she put herself through this when she's capable of incredible acting in roles that suit her. Weird movie, overplayed and uninspiring story line, not funny either. Why.

I'm still watching this movie in theater. I'm the only person here at a Saturday evening showing in the 1st week and I understand why. This movie does technically everything correct but it's a rehash of stereotypes from mediocre gangster and cop movies.

If it would be at least trying to imitate good movies it would be better but it doesn't. It does seem like a mid season episode of a second tier crime TV show.

Every character explains their motivations and history in the clearest and plain way, so that absolutely everyone understands is i. It is as subtle as a sledge hammer.

I can imagine it to be cool if You are a teenager and don't know to many of these movies. It has a few nice laughs.

*** Very mild spoiler ***

After finishing the movie: The third act takes a turn to the better, but still on a low level.

Ex-cop works for local criminals for years in order to save enough money to open a dinner, and be able to provide for his family. But things go bad on the day he plans to get out of this line of work.

Sadly.. this script is all setup, no payoff.

There are no interesting developments, no well-written characters or even cool choreographies or moments. Worst of all, the one twist the movie has, was shown on trailers for some reason.. and isn't that particularly memorable either. It is a decent production, but the tone is off (attempting to be quirky while being a downer most of the time), the pacing is bad and the plot underwritten.

I lost interest in it rather quickly, and would not recommend it to anyone.