We come galloping out of the gate, practically tripping over an overabundance of cracker-barrel narration (spoken by Billy Crudup) and characters’ names spelled out in the corners of the frame. In the numerous physical altercations Ben Gibbon (Diego Boneta) has been in since the age of five, the win to loss ratio stands at 0 to 723. The son of an obnoxiously wealthy telecommunications magnate, poor little rich boy Ben won the lottery the day he was born. With nothing in life to motivate him, the closest our masochistic heir gets to experiencing human feeling are the constant slugfests he provokes. Even his choice of girlfriends — Mary (Alexandra Daddario), the daughter of Ben’s father’s bitter rival, is his perfect fit — sparks a blood feud. The couple’s elopement kicks off a downhill race between modern-day Montagues and Capulets towards a decisive face-off between the lovers and the carnivalist assembly of hitmen hired by their parents to permanently annul the marriage. The romantic chemistry is potent and director Collin Schiffli and Ant-Man and the Wasp scribes Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari steep their latest action comedy in color-drenched panels. Alas, they do so without stopping long enough to smell the satire inherent in what could have been a comic book clash between CNN and Fox News. (2021) — Scott Marks
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