Dead Man Down Review

When the plotline for a film has been used numerous times, it is a rather bold move to take a crack at it once again. Dead Man Down does just that, using the same old recycled plot lines, while using enough darkness, some good dialogue and well paced dramatics in order to still be entertaining.

Victor his working for the mob, under his new name while trying to find justice for his wife and daughter that were killed. After, he meets Beatrice and helps her get revenge on the man that left her face scarred after a car accident during which he was driving drunk, Victor begins to fall for her. As things grow tense, Victor puts a plan into action that will finally bring justice for his wife and daughter.

Lead by Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace and Terrence Howard, Dead Man Down begins as a typical crime film. It transcends that after the entrance of Beatrice and her struggles, which brought a human aspect to the film. Here was a pretty girl, who had her life ruined by a single event, and she wanted revenge at any cost. The mafia men were expected to be hardened criminals, but Beatrice was well portrayed because of how her life had changed. Farrell does a good job as Victor, but the intentions of the overall film were all too clear too fast even through they were kept mysterious for the first half of the film.

Dead Man Down could have easily been a better film, it was too predictable and the scenes were too jumpy. Less clumping together of randomly cut scenes and more progressive plot driven scenes would have been the key to Dead Man Down being shorter and more concise overall. Driven by the mood of the overall scene, Dead Man Down benefited from darker, dreary action scenes that were heavy handed and meaningful. Not to say the plot was meaningless, because it had a lot of meaning and justice is as great a motive as any, but like mentioned earlier it has been down countless time before.

Still a very entertaining film, Farrell and Rapace share great scenes together, their sorrow commands the screen through-out the film, making them easy characters to get behind. A lot of the time that can be enough and with Dead Man Down it did help carry the film through some rough patches. Solid crime film, with three dynamic performances to help carry the film even when you feel like it could have been much better.


8/10