In Bullet To The Head, Sylvester Stallone plays a hitman who teams up ... with a cop.

A TEAM-UP between two polar opposites is not uncommon; we’ve seen it many times in movies and TV shows. Bullet To The Head, the new film starring Sylvester Stallone, takes it further by having a cop become partners with a killer.

Based on the French graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tête, written by Alexis Nolent (better known as Matz) and drawn by Colin Wilson. A fan of the buddy-movie genre, Nolent wanted to write a story that fell into this category, but he wanted to push things a little past the norm.

In the production notes of Bullet To The Head provided by Nusantara Edaran Filem, Nolent says: “I thought it would be an interesting idea to have a killer teaming up with a cop – to have a bond that goes through the lines of the law and the principal of ethics and everything else ... The cop is a little more square than the hitman, who thinks outside the box. But the whole principle was that these two characters that seem to have nothing in common, have much more in common than they ever thought possible.”

The clash of personalities and the conflict between the two main characters provide much of the intense drama in the film. It also naturally provides much of the humour.

Tackling the role of the assassin, Jimmy Bobo, is none other than Stallone. Apparently he was immediately attracted to Jimmy as it was a role he could sink his teeth into.

Stallone explains: “He’s at peace with himself. He plays by certain rules. He doesn’t go after people who, in his mind, don’t deserve it.”

The other half of this odd couple is Detective Taylor Kwon (Sung Kang of Fast Five), who is all about the here and now. Kang says: “Generationally, we’re completely different; morally, we’re completely different; ethnically, we’re completely different. Taylor represents the new generation – his eyes are always stuck on technology. Add to that, he lives by this real rigid code of honour. There’s a moral integrity that’s been ingrained in him for a variety of reasons.

“Jimmy Bobo comes from a generation where there was no political correctness, so he’s the type of guy who just says what’s on his mind.”

As different as they are, they need each other to bring down a common enemy and uncover the reason for the deaths of their respective partners. Jimmy has an extra barrier to overcome when he is confronted with a betrayal from within his own group, and the discovery that – for the moment – the only person he can trust is a detective who hates his guts.

Also in the picture is Jimmy’s tough and independent daughter Lisa (Sarah Shahi), a tattoo artist who’s had a tough life – her mother passed away when she was very young and her father was hardly ever around.

Shahi shares: “There’s been a lot of hurt and a lot of betrayal; Jimmy’s been in and out of her life. He’s provided for Lisa financially, but other than that, he really hasn’t been there for her. But it’s still an important relationship and there’s definitely love there, so Sly and I worked to find a balance between letting that sort of bruised heart come across, along with the fact that they genuinely care for each other.”

Wanting to add a different sort of atmosphere to the look of the film, director Walter Hill took to filming entirely in and around New Orleans, Louisiana. What the city provided was a visual noir atmosphere, akin to the graphic novel’s look.

Hill, who has filmed in the city two times before this, says: “It’s a very different place. The atmosphere, the weather, the architecture and the history make New Orleans in no way a typical American city, but at the same time, it is somehow extraordinarily American. I love being there.”

Since Bullet To The Head features Stallone and the newer action man, Jason Momoa, it boasts some really cool action sequences, including the climax which takes place in an enormous, abandoned power plant.

This particular plant also happens to be where Hill directed his first film, Hard Times, starring Charles Bronson, in 1975. Production designer Toby Corbett remarks: “It seemed kind of appropriate and is a full circle sort of thing. It’s a stunning, turn-of-the-century building, with cathedral-like windows, and huge machinery. So it lent itself to the action sequence perfectly because it’s this really graphic look which sort of gives the perfect kind of framing, similar to a graphic novel.”

Bullet To The Head opens nationwide tomorrow.

In Bullet To The Head, Sylvester Stallone plays a hitman who teams up ... with a cop.