Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Movie Review: Dead Man Down

Dead Man Down (IMDb score: 7.0, Rotten Tomatoes 38% Fresh)

Director: Niels Arden Oplev (Swedish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
Writer: J.H. Wyman (The Mexican)

I’m struggling to understand the IMDb score for this movie, as it deserves a much lower rating.  This is a classic $2, sit-on-your-couch-on-a-Sunday flick.  Focusing on a scarred (literally and emotionally) woman on a quest for revenge and a mobster thug who is more than meets the eye, this is an entertaining but highly predictable affair.  Rapace and Farrell’s chemistry propels the movie as far as it can go on such a weak script, but unfortunately Terrence Howard is underused.  They could have made him much more sinister or ruthless, but instead I almost pitied him!  There are a few bloody and rather impressive action sequences which were enjoyable, but there’s little to no mystery about the whole thing.  In terms of plot this will seem like familiar territory for many viewers. (continues after the jump)


I actually had a great time with the scenes occurring in Rapace’s apartment with her mother, who is in full-on “you need to move on and find a man” mode.   The mom’s interactions with Farrell are equally funny.  A heartfelt relationship between Farrell and his mobster bro also adds some emotion to the film.  So it’s not all bad.  It’s just not very intriguing or original either.  This has been a tepid start to 2013 film-wise and sadly it continues with this underwhelming display.  Hopefully it will start to pick up soon!  With all the entertainment options available to you, this one is probably not worth the money.  But if you see it on HBO or USA in a few months, it can provide you with some decent laughs and explosions. 

Grade: C-

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