"“There is something rather tongue-in-cheek about this production, and it's that very approach which allows it the licence to be a bit, well, rubbish.”"

Tits! Drugs! Guns! Stallone! And that's just the first five minutes of Walter Hill's crime thriller Bullet to the Head, a film that proceeds to carry on in much of the same fashion, as we take an unwelcome trip back to 1980s cinema in a film that plays out much like a homage to classic action movies of old.

Stallone plays Jimmy Bobo, a jaded hitman who watches on as his partner Louis (Jon Seda) is murdered by the vicious mercenary Keegan (Jason Momoa), only to then seek revenge on those who killed his colleague and friend. To help identify those behind the attack and reach the bottom of this heinous crime, he joins forces with detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang), who had also lost his partner – at the hands of Jimmy, no less. The unlikely pair then proceed to become embroiled in a war against the powerful lawyer Marcus Baptiste (Christian Slater) and developer Morel (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), as suddenly the cop and the criminal must work together to help take down their mutual adversary.

So, Stallone is back doing it again. And by it, I mean the inability to act or look at all like he knows what is quite going on around him. However, somewhere in between the leathery, immobile face of this legendary actor, is a knowing glint, as though he knows exactly what he's up to. Of The Expendables ilk, there is just something rather tongue-in-cheek about this production, and it's that very approach which allows it the licence to be a bit, well, rubbish.

In fact, despite the title's shortcomings it is difficult to leave at all disappointed, because it is exactly as you would expect it to be. Mediocre, yes, but we all knew that would be the case. It completely lives up to expectations, they're just a tad low, that's all. Although, just because you may expect a lacklustre production doesn't mean it can be excused entirely, as this film bears an unnecessarily convoluted story, while the conclusion and contrived tying up of loose ends doesn't work at all. The one thing Bullet to the Head does achieve, however, is the ability to make the audience laugh. There are a handful of witty one-liners – well delivered by a dead-pan Stallone.

Ultimately, Bullet to the Head is cliched, predictable and the acting is below-par. Is this what people want to see? In all honesty, for those who pay to see the latest Stallone flick called Bullet to the Head, it most probably is. So fair dues.