The age of genre-bending is here. This time, we’re getting an action movie crossed with the romantic comedy stylings of Valentine’s Day. Love Hurts comes from some of the same people who made the John Wick movies, and if you’re into that style of action, you’ll enjoy this film. Love Hurts stars Ke Huy Quan, a seemingly unlikely action hero, but one that if you know his background as a stunt performer and coordinator, it’ll make more sense. it also stars Ariana DeBose, Mustafa Shakir, Lio Tipton, Daniel Wu, Cam Gigandet, Marshawn Lynch, and Andre Eriksen. It also features roles from Rhys Darby, Sean Astin, and Drew Scott.

So a movie that features a karate-black-belt wielding Property Brother cannot be awesome, right? Well it depends on what you’re looking for. Love Hurts has exceptional action sequences filled with stunts, fights, violence, and gunfire. The sequences in between range from necessary to a bit groan-worthy. The plot is pretty thin, but gets the job done to keep the movie moving along. Marvin Gable (Quan) is a realtor that’s drawn back into his previous life as a contract killer with the return of Rose (DeBose) “from the dead”. Rose’s reappearance brings back Marvin’s brother Alvin, otherknown as “Knuckles”. This brings back all the hallmarks of Marvin’s previous life, other killers come after him including the poetry-writing Raven (Shakir), and Otis (Lynch) and King (Eriksen).

Those characters all coalesce into what amounts to Marvin vs. Alvin. It’s an interesting story of brothers but there’s not that much substance to it. Why is Alvin like this? How did they get into the business of killing people? There was a more interesting story to tell, but Love Hurts didn’t spin in. The movie is also only an hour and twenty-three minutes long. They couldn’t have fit more in to flesh out the reasons why these two brothers are in the predicament they’re in?

The other big issue that I have with Love Hurts is that the romance in the film doesn’t really work. Ke Huy Quan does not look 53 years old, but he’s still 21 years older than his co-star Ariana DeBose. The romance of the situation doesn’t fit. He ends his contract-killing career by saving her life, but she returns to get money back from the same people who tried killing her. The romance feels forced and would feel forced no matter the age gap between the two stars. DeBose and Quan try to make it work, but it doesn’t land.

Those issues don’t take away from some of the fun and humor of Love Hurts though. Marvin’s assistant Ashley (played by Lio Tipton) provides plenty of humor with her role as the overworked assistant who gets flung into the previous life of Marvin. Marshawn Lynch also continues to show that he has impeccable comedic timing. His character is easily the highlight of the film. Seeing him throw around Marvin like Brock Lesnar in the WWE is amazing.

The pace of Love Hurts is a help and a hindrance. It feels like it goes by in no time, but it also feels like it’s leaving something on the table. Those issues don’t make for a bad movie, but one that feels flawed. It still has some great action and even a couple very gruesome deaths. The movie really is about seeing Ke Huy Quan kicking ass and that’s what it feels like the marketing is trying to get people to think.

If you’re in for a fun, if unspectacular, action film, Love Hurts is for you. If you’re looking for a half-action, half-romantic comedy for you and your significant other to watch this Valentine’s Day, you might want to look elsewhere.

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