Kevin James Trades Laughs for Bullets in Gritty ‘Guns Up’ Trailer and Poster

Nothing prepared me for seeing Kevin James swing a baseball bat at someone's kneecaps—and meaning it.

The first trailer for Guns Up, the latest from Edward Drake (American Siege, Gasoline Alley), just dropped like a sledgehammer through the floorboards of expectations. Kevin James, America's favorite mall cop, trades his Segway for a sawn-off shotgun, playing Ray Hayes: a family-man cop-turned-mob-henchman trying to outrun the life he chose.

But here's the uncomfortable truth: it's not really funny.
At least, not the way audiences might expect from James. The trailer pulses with desperation, not punchlines. Ray isn't goofing his way through mob hits; he's surviving them. And when the inevitable betrayal comes—as it always does in crime stories—it doesn't feel like a gag. It feels like getting jumped in a dark alley.

Empire Ent. officially dropped the trailer alongside a poster that's equally revealing: Kevin James, bloodied and weary, cradling a gun like it's the last anchor to his fading morality. There's no wink to the camera. No pratfall. Just raw, sad violence. Like a Netflix algorithm chewing up the King of Queens and spitting out a C-grade Michael Mann.

Guns Up vs. Hollywood's Sad-Dad Syndrome

If this sounds eerily familiar, you're not wrong. Hollywood's been obsessed with “sad-dad redemption arcs” for over a decade—think Liam Neeson in Taken, or Bob Odenkirk in Nobody. Middle-aged men clawing their way through violence to save their families? Catnip for studios.

But Guns Up tweaks the formula. Ray Hayes isn't a government assassin or a sleeper agent. He's an ordinary guy who made bad choices—and now he's too deep to swim back.

Fun trivia from IMDb: James reportedly based his performance on watching French bulldogs struggle to jump onto couches. Sounds silly—but think about it. The clumsy determination. The sadness under the surface. That's Ray Hayes in a nutshell.

Edward Drake: Crime's Blue-Collar Storyteller?

Director Edward Drake has carved a niche with gritty, low-budget action dramas—often starring a sleepwalking Bruce Willis. (Apex, American Siege, Gasoline Alley—you get the idea.)

But here's where Guns Up feels different:
There's a distinct humanity to the way the trailer frames Ray's struggle. It's not sleek or stylish. It's messy. Uncomfortable. And Kevin James, against all odds, sells it.

Could this be the movie that shakes off Drake's “straight-to-VOD” stigma? Maybe. Or maybe it'll land with a thud, like so many “one-last-job” movies before it.

Either way—you'll either love it or hate it.
No middle ground.

Would you trust Kevin James to save your family from the mob? Comment below.