Dead Man Down

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!

Today's review is Dead Man Down.

Directed by Niels Arden Oplev.

Written by J.H. Wyman.

Review #203

MPAA Rating: Rated R for violence, language throughout and a scene of sexuality.

Run Time: 118 min

Cast

Colin Farrell...Victor

Noomi Rapace...Beatrice

Terrence Howard...Alphonse

Dominic Cooper...Darcy

Isabelle Huppert...Valentine Louzon

Funny how a movie earns your respect by taking a washed up plot and giving it a fresh take. Then in the blink of an eye, another movie yanks that respect away by doing the exact opposite. I came across this very situation. After seeing Side Effects and Dead Man Down. The first film did everything it could to ignore the distinct reality that you weren't watching something new. They pulled it off very well.

This film did not. That however wasn't it's downfall.

Plot

In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by one of his boss's victims, a woman seeking retribution.

My initial impression of Dead Man Down is this "man did this film felt familiar." That's because there was nothing new or fresh about the story. This film was a gumbo full of plot lines taken from other action films. Once again this wasn't the film's downfall. It had it's moments of stupidity and the pacing drags a bit but overall, Dead Man Down does provide some level of entertainment.

This is mostly due to the 2 main players. Noomi Rapace and Colin Farrell.

The relationship they formed in the films was believable and sensible. They each had something they wanted from each other and worked together to achieve their goals. From that spawned a pretty nice relationship that grows nicely as the film progressed. Both characters back stories were a bit predictable but handled slyly enough that you're not annoyed that the originality isn't present. Their motives were less original or inspiring but again it fits the mold Oplev created to move everything along.

The biggest problem I had with Dead Man Down was Terrence Howard. He plays the main antagonist and was probably the weakest villain in movie history short of Elmer Fudd. This guy inspired more laughter out of me than fear. This is something that absolutely CAN NOT HAPPEN in an action film. Especially when the main motive of the film is revenge. Your villain needs to be despised at first sight. You want to feel so much anger toward him that his demise can't come fats enough.

In this case I couldn't wait for his demise so I could go home and play God of War.

Howard's character Alphonse had no backbone, no violence, no (pardon my french) asshole gene. Every great villain has this gene that inspires so much angst toward them that it's eternally gratifying for the viewer when their comeuppance arrives. Howard who's a very talented actor plays Alphonse with the wannabe gene. He's played with more sophistication and polish than power. Then when it's time to knuckle up and hit the street he looks and feels even less of a tough guy. It was truly a shame because a more capable and feared villain would have made this film better than it is.

The action was very muted until the final shootout at the end which borders on the insane. And not in the good action movie way. It felt like nobody knew how to show the final showdown so as a Plan B they just decided to drive a truck through a house and have a 5 minutes of bullets flying everywhere.

Lazy.

Dead Man Down falls into the "What Could Have Been" category. A vicious more methodical villain combined with a slicker finale would have upped the ante big time.

On the 5 star scale. Dead Man Down gets 2 stars with a "Netflix It!" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is Oz The Great and Powerful.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"