I've watched the movie before reading what the critics had to say and before any user reviews; if you like the actors and director, sometime it's best to do it this way, and it was for me. I really liked the movie, so I set out to read why it fared so poorly compared to my impressions. Some critics got the point and understood Oplev's approach, some didn't.
When a director attempts to give us as much reality as a work of fiction can deliver, that director will have to be unconventional at times and in the process lose critics' support. It's a path Niels Arden Oplev takes and has taken with some consistence.
The opening scene has Darcy, played by a fine British actor Dominic Cooper, and Victor the dark hero of this movie, played by Colin Farrell, engaged in a crucial and profound moment of philosophical bonding over the love of a man for his daughter and how such thing changes a person forever. It will not be apparent till much further into the movie how that bonding and the emotion shaped Victor's character. I feel the critics and many reviewers overlooked that entirely.
We are introduced slowly and methodically to each key character in the movie. The casting by the way was nothing short of great. From Terrence Howard, Isabelle Huppert to F. Murray Abraham as supporting roles, well, Howard was certainly more than just supporting. Oplev finds the time to have us discover what makes them tick, slowly he pursues this process; it is part of the unconventional approach I mentioned. The concept is nothing new but one rather forgotten nowadays or simply neglected. I believe he means to engage the audience in this manner and it will work for some but not for all; some audiences are more interested in the superficial and the big picture. The big picture here lies in the sum of the details. They add up to make the point that strong as revenge may consume a person, something stronger emerges eventually in the good that can be found in almost anyone. But I admit it is not conveyed with any sort of flash or grandiose revelation, it's done with subtlety.
Not so subtle are some violent and brutal scenes Oplev has delivered via Farrell's character when Victor is in full execution of his revenge plan. What a plan by the way. Few if any other reviews flaw that aspect of the movie, because it has all the necessary thriller elements one needs for a strong build up and denouement.
I particularly liked the relation between Victor and Beatrice, played by Rapace, from the misleading innocent beginning to the classic all hell breaking loose when Victor thinks he's about to lose her to a bullet by Alphonse (Terrence Howard) or his crew. Beatrice's character is a complex one and it has apparently escaped some reviewers that complex characters don't play out like fairy tale ones. She is obsessed with revenge, as Victor is, but she is also a woman whose beauty has been robed from her and anyone not sensitive to such predicament will obviously not understand how well, truly great, she plays her part. When Farrell and Rapace gaze in each other's eyes, we get this convincing feeling that it will turn sexual, but that is a pleasure denied us; oh how intensely they gaze.
Based on Oplev's previous work, I don't think, given an unlimited budget and a choice of any actor he would like, that the director would have made that much of a different movie. Beauty as the saying goes is not found in perfection, but in the sum of the little flaws we somehow like and want to remain, just the way they are, art if you will. If you liked my review, you'll like the movie.
When a director attempts to give us as much reality as a work of fiction can deliver, that director will have to be unconventional at times and in the process lose critics' support. It's a path Niels Arden Oplev takes and has taken with some consistence.
The opening scene has Darcy, played by a fine British actor Dominic Cooper, and Victor the dark hero of this movie, played by Colin Farrell, engaged in a crucial and profound moment of philosophical bonding over the love of a man for his daughter and how such thing changes a person forever. It will not be apparent till much further into the movie how that bonding and the emotion shaped Victor's character. I feel the critics and many reviewers overlooked that entirely.
We are introduced slowly and methodically to each key character in the movie. The casting by the way was nothing short of great. From Terrence Howard, Isabelle Huppert to F. Murray Abraham as supporting roles, well, Howard was certainly more than just supporting. Oplev finds the time to have us discover what makes them tick, slowly he pursues this process; it is part of the unconventional approach I mentioned. The concept is nothing new but one rather forgotten nowadays or simply neglected. I believe he means to engage the audience in this manner and it will work for some but not for all; some audiences are more interested in the superficial and the big picture. The big picture here lies in the sum of the details. They add up to make the point that strong as revenge may consume a person, something stronger emerges eventually in the good that can be found in almost anyone. But I admit it is not conveyed with any sort of flash or grandiose revelation, it's done with subtlety.
Not so subtle are some violent and brutal scenes Oplev has delivered via Farrell's character when Victor is in full execution of his revenge plan. What a plan by the way. Few if any other reviews flaw that aspect of the movie, because it has all the necessary thriller elements one needs for a strong build up and denouement.
I particularly liked the relation between Victor and Beatrice, played by Rapace, from the misleading innocent beginning to the classic all hell breaking loose when Victor thinks he's about to lose her to a bullet by Alphonse (Terrence Howard) or his crew. Beatrice's character is a complex one and it has apparently escaped some reviewers that complex characters don't play out like fairy tale ones. She is obsessed with revenge, as Victor is, but she is also a woman whose beauty has been robed from her and anyone not sensitive to such predicament will obviously not understand how well, truly great, she plays her part. When Farrell and Rapace gaze in each other's eyes, we get this convincing feeling that it will turn sexual, but that is a pleasure denied us; oh how intensely they gaze.
Based on Oplev's previous work, I don't think, given an unlimited budget and a choice of any actor he would like, that the director would have made that much of a different movie. Beauty as the saying goes is not found in perfection, but in the sum of the little flaws we somehow like and want to remain, just the way they are, art if you will. If you liked my review, you'll like the movie.