Before Mission: Impossible, but after writing The Usual Suspects, the world wasn’t ready for Christopher McQuarrie’s directorial debut, The Way of the Gun. Under the trappings of low-rent criminals getting in over their head, McQuarrie pushes the boundaries of even post-Tarantino crime movies.
Usual Suspects had a twist but it was so embedded in the underworld it was easier to see them picked off one by one. Parker (Ryan Phillippe) and Longbaugh (Benicio Del Toro) kidnap Robin (Juliette Lewis), a pregnant surrogate mother to ransom the baby to the parents.
So you’ve got an expectant mother and potential newborn at risk now. The language also really leans into the post-Tarantino vulgarity hard, which was not the voice McQuarrie used in The Usual Suspects.
And yet, the action is carefully staged just like the Mission: Impossible movies. It’s smaller scale gunfights and car chases, but you can see where everyone is and what they’re trying to accomplish.
The 4K shows the flim’s clear grit with film grain. The cliffs of Salt Lake City reminded me of being at Sundance. The shadow between trucks at the truck stop and in the back of the van becomes an ominous void filled with suspense and dread.
The middle section of the film is set against the backgrop of midwest night as various parties engage in confrontations. Longbaugh’s sniper scope matches the darkness of the sky.
Those gunfights ricochet more than I’ve heard in John Woo and John Wick movies, matching the effective staging with surround sound.
New bonus features focus on the craftspeople, Production Designer Maia Javan, Art Director Tom Meyer and Propmaster Ian Roylance. Cast interviews from the set and McQuarrie and composer Joe Kraemer’s original commentaries are still included.