User Reviews

He looks out the window in the night sky after a long day's work, thinking of what has become of himself. Across his apartment balcony, in the window of the building opposite his, stares a woman, solemn, pained. Their eyes meet, and, slowly, they wave at each other. Not a word was spoken.

Subtle scenes like these evoke memories of the raw power of film - it is emotion, not words or sometimes action - that drive a motion picture. Thing is, Vic is a thug working for a ruthless mobster; and Beatrice is a traumatized victim of a car accident. The subtlety will not last long, but it does make healthy re-appearances.

Niels Arden Oplev's "Dead Man Down" is the English-language debut (third this year overall following two Korean efforts) of the Swedish filmmaker famous for the original "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" film. He even brought along his star Noomi Rapace for the ride. It is a joy to see a modern filmmaker who cares for and loves his characters as much as the audience expects themselves to, that we are invested in them strongly and want to see them succeed. He crafts the film with love, as the cinematography gracefully dances around the characters, as if it was a complex ballet intrigue and hidden motives. Do we really want to right that wrong? Will it be worth it in the end? For us and for our loved ones?

The movie is, first and foremost, a revenge thriller. But surprisingly, it is also a compelling love story. From the moment the film opens we are thrust into the urban jungle of New York City (accentuated with a moody and atmospheric score by Jacob Groth, composer of the original "Millennium" trilogy), but with a poignant yet meaningful statement by Vic's friend Darcy (Cooper). Writer J.H. Wyman uses strands of earlier revenge films, twisty film-noirs and the classic melodramatic romance of earlier Hollywood films and incorporated them into his screenplay. Oplev transforms the screenplay, with such passionate energy and inventiveness, that the whole film somehow resembles a classic romantic European fable - sort of like this big tough warrior who falls in love with a wounded soul in a far-away and dangerous land, and both become kindred spirits. It is engrossing and captivating to watch the characters actually become real human beings, instead of being caricatures. This is a film where the characters' decisions affects what happens next.

The film would not succeed had it not been for the two leads, Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace, followed by a strong and diverse supporting cast. Farrell is strong as Vic, big, tough but withdrawn and solemn, slowly hiding away his anguish and rage towards his real enemy. Rapace, an actress whom I'm starting to grow fond of, is quite wonderful as Beatrice, who is traumatized but is still capable of captivating the lonely Vic. She walks and talks with unease, but there are times where she switches gears and becomes intensely aggressive in her true goal, where it will reveal is eating her up slowly but surely. The strong chemistry between the duo make the movie much, much better than it was intended.

The rest of the cast consists of Terrence Howard as a deliciously ruthless and intimidating as the villain Alphonse (watch the scene where he confronts Vic in a dark apartment room, with backlighting in Paul Cameron's cinematography brilliantly capturing the essence of noir), Dominic Cooper giving Darcy a human and realistic portrayal of a stock crime film character, and brief but warmly welcome appearances of F. Murray Abraham and Isabelle Huppert.

This is a movie which has something for both guys and gals. Guys will go for the gritty story and the obligatory "Colin Farrell kicks ass" scenes, especially the violent climax. Women would go just to see Farrell the romantic, and the compelling chemistry between the two leads are enough to make them swoon over. But the film is so well made, the characters and story strongly developed and very compelling enough to hold my attention for two hours, that really, you couldn't ask for a more well rounded revenge thriller of late. This is a movie which actually is a real movie, instead of feeling like a movie or being a commercial/stunt/SFX reel. Kudos to especially Oplev, Farrell and Rapace for making a strong, real film about lovable characters.

No doubt the marketing for the film is way off (as an action thriller, as usual) and reveals quite too much. Doesn't matter. "Dead Man Down" is the finest and most meaningful revenge film in years.

The gangster Victor (Colin Farrell ) has been working for the powerful mobster Alphonse Hoyt (Terrence Howard) for nine months and has the gratitude of the kingpin for saving his life during an attack to a Jamaican gang. When the criminal Paul is found dead and Alphonse receives pieces of a photo, he tries to discover who is behind the actions. He does not know that Victor is actually the Hungarian engineer Lazlo Kerick, a man who had his little daughter and his wife murdered by Alphonse. Victor has been carefully planning his revenge against Alphonse.

Out of the blue, his neighbor Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) from an apartment on the other side of the street, who has scars on the face due to a car accident, contacts him and shows a footage of Victor killing Paul. She tells that if he does not kill the man that hit her and destroyed her life, she will deliver the footage to the police. The reluctant Victor accepts the deal and after successive encounters, they develop attraction for each other.

"Dead Man Down" is a good tale of revenge that could have been great with improvements in the story and a better conclusion. The gangsters are too dumb and never suspects of Victor. The make-up of Noomi Rapace is very poor for a traumatized woman due to her scars. Further, her character does not inspire pity from the viewers. The character of Isabelle Huppert is silly and pointless, wasting the talent of this magnificent French actress. But the worst is the senseless conclusion, with the stupid attitude of Beatrice that does not post the memory card, just to give the chance to the usual clichés with car crash, shootings and explosions. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sem Perdão" ("No Mercy")

More unbelievable gun drek for the intellectually challenged.

1. Beatrice was simply not that ugly. The makeup budget must have been cut to $67.99 at the last minute. Her "scars" we're hardly serious enough to cause the degree of mental damage and drive for revenge portrayed.

2. Colin Farrell is not an actor. He gets paid to be a "Colin Farrell" in films with a character like....Colin Farrell.

3. The only cast members that displayed any acting chops were Rapace, Abraham and Vataj. The rest were going through the motions at best.

4. Plot holes galore. Detailing them all would exceed the word limit. Anyone with an IQ above 60 will be constantly rolling their eyes.

5. "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" redux.

I watched this on a long flight. At least I did not pay to be dumbified.

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.

A Hungarian engineer that emigrated to USA sees his wife and little daughter murdered by a gang that believes he was also killed at the same occasion. He has however survived the attack (we don't know exactly how) and decides to plan and execute a cold vengeance by killing the murderers one by one using for that several stratagems and also his technical skill after having infiltrated himself in the gang and acting as one of its accepted members. The story which is a bit weak in terms of logic and credibility is very well told in images and scenes till its brutal ending. in the thick of this there is a subplot that turns slowly out to be sentimental in which a young woman whose face was disfigured by a car accident caused by a drunk driver wants also to revenge herself by making our man to kill that driver under the threat of denouncing him for one of his murders that she had furtively and by chance watched. Their relationship begins under this threat but is softening itself while time passes and several episodes involving them both occur. Notwithstanding the story which is a bit complicated and has a few loose ends the movie is well made, directed and acted and has lots of well performed action, riveting the spectator's attention during the whole projection. One last note for the sound track music which is lugubriously superb and contributes adequately to the movie atmosphere.

Film opens with a family scene but quickly moves into the action, with a gang-leader, played by Terence Howard, under attack from an unknown enemy. A campaign is being waged against him and spotting a clue he goes to confront a rival gang-leader. Violence ensues, but with no back-story, there is nobody to get emotionally attached to, as these gangsters shoot it out. Actors Colin Farrell and Dominic Cooper play members of Howard's gang, and after this long violent intro, we get credits as we follow Farrell home.

Outside of his gang activities, Colin Farrell's character seems to lead a fairly lonely life (think Leon), but he comes into contact with a neighbour across the way. She is played by Noomi Rapache and seems fragile and needy. Farrell by contrast seems colder and moody. Farrell played the moodiest guy in history as Alexander (the Great), and here too, we are uncertain of where his mood swings will lead, right from the first scene, onwards.

F. Murray Abraham has a few small scenes and Armand Assante does one short scene, however they, and Terence Howard, as well as the other gangsters, do not get a lot of character development. Quite right too, because all this gang stuff is really the background to the central story of the relationship between Farrell and Rapache.

The story is set in New York, not that you would know that from the location shots, this could have been filmed anywhere, however it did have some interesting bleak, if slightly unbelievable, location shooting.

Colin Farrell acted his part well; after his cold, unpredictable start, we gradually learnt more of his character, so perhaps did he. Dominic Cooper, playing a fellow gang member, gave a standout performance, with real depth, to a believable character. The best of all though was the power-house performance of Noomi Rapache. Utterly believable and real, real, depth. She is the real star of this film.

It has to be said that this film is a bit clichéd, derivative and predictable, and has a somewhat improbable and unlikely plot. Having said that, I was not expecting much when I went to see this film and so I was not let down by it. As a crime thriller, it is a good film. 7/10.