2 GUNS (15) Empire, Odeon, ABC ***

DOUBLE-OSCAR winning actor Denzel Washington recently said he was keen to take on a ‘lighter role’, and you get the impression he found exactly what he was after with his latest incarnation in 2 Guns.

Billed as an ‘anti buddy’ movie by its creator Steven Grant, who published the story as a comic in 2008, the action-packed 2 Guns is alive with incessant gun bangs, raging bulls, gang brawls and bucket loads of banter.

Certainly, it marks a departure from Washington’s last role as an intoxicated pilot who takes to the skies in Flight.

Of course, on-screen 2 Guns is anything but an anti-buddy movie. It’s about two guys, who are often at odds with each other, pushed together in extraordinary circumstances. Those guys are the rather brittle Bobby Trent, a drug enforcement agent (Washington), and dirt-talking navy officer Stig (Mark Wahlberg).

While there are ample gun bangs for your buck here, the real joy in 2 Guns is the on-screen ease between the leads.