Dead Man Down (Two Disc Combo: Blu-ray / DVD)

Oh, lord have mercy now I am a criminalMan DownTell the judge please gimme minimal...RihannaIn a country where the justice system has swung like a pendulum from the Salem Witch Trials and Old West vigilantism to pleading down murders and other crimes to almost nothing for the sake of getting anything on the books, revenge movies have become a favorite guilty pleasure for many. However, there are different kinds of revenge movies. In fact one writer, Grady Harp, whose reviews I most often highly respect, makes mention that in the case of the movie, Dead Man Down,"The theme is not good guy versus bad guy because every character in the film is a bad guy/girl and once the audience tunes into that then the emphasis is on that elusive human reaction to trauma called revenge."What? No good guys? This is a movie and movies relate to real life. Right? When the Twin Towers went down we wanted revenge. Did that make us bad? Our military went to war and most all of us were behind that action. I'm just saying, when there is any kind of rational justification we, as human beings, tend to want retribution. However, we hope for reasonable resolution, in real life. In movies, we want gruesome revenge and yet, still consider the protagonist righteous.Between the director of Dead Man Down, Niels Arden Oplev, and the actors, Collin Farrell and Noomi Rapace, the spirit and humanity of these vengeful characters were culled with insight and care. Two youngish actors, both masters of the dark, far-off stare, make a connection across the ethereal space between two apartment buildings and the souls of their characters, as well as their histories, collide. This is an artfully convoluted plot, making sense at each surprising turn. Isabelle Huppert, as Rapace's mother, was diaphonously present, blithely beautiful and childlike.Terrence Howard, as evil incarnate, did not altogether satisfy. While I didn't need to see an overacting madman, I would like to have seen him use those nice cold blue eyes to convey more danger. Instead, it seemed as though he whined his anger and discontent more often than not.Dominic Cooper, a Brit, sporting a Bronx accent, was a surprise. His character was paradoxical and he certainly did it justice.*SPOILERRight up until the very, very end, I was enjoying myself. The soundtracks, the cinematography, the New York and surrounding area location, the acting and THEN... Our two protags ran from a fiery mess where no police sirens are ever even remotely heard and, muddy, bloody and wet, they jump on a bus where immediately a beautiful, haunting love song plays. Unfortunately, for me at least, our lovebirds grab a pole and make out with one-another as not one person on that full bus looks on? Wha??? Had to take one off for that! So cheesy!Just sayin...

Great story, action and love story!

Noomi Rapace wants revenge on a DUI driver who ruined her face (slightly) and Colin Farrell wants revenge on the crime boss who murdered his family - we've seen it all before but DMD gives us a brooding, European-style slant on the interaction between the characters that provides a slightly new angle, even though it's fairly predictable after the midpoint. The film never really consummates the promised romance but instead focuses on two fragile characters who find rare moments of sanity to hold onto to avoid completely falling off an emotional cliff.The casting is excellent and there's a solid chemistry between all the major parts with everyone turning in good performances. The production design shows us a view of New York's suburbs that you rarely see with some dark, Euro coloration and generally the style supports the brooding atmosphere cultivated throughout the first two thirds of the film. The pacing is tight although it arguably loses the mystery element of the story too quickly and by the time act 3 starts, it's pretty clear where it's going to go. This is another film where you should avoid watching the trailer since far too much of the final 20 minutes is included and it's laden with spoilers.Dead Man Down died horribly at the box office, presumably due to the dreadful title, unclear premise and a feeling that we've seen it all before. Still, it's a good flick to keep entertained for a couple of hours, though I doubt I would watch it a second time around. And they never did answer who Colin Farrell was strangling in his apartment.

Great action movie

I like the movie it was very interesting. Especially when she blackmail the guy to help her kill the man who mess up her face.

Good story and good action.

The trailers for this movie depicted it as a fast pace crime action thriller, but the reality is that this movie is more of a dramatic love story. I thought that the evolution of the love story was wonderful. Here are 2 people who have been betrayed and broken down by the world that they hide their true selves from everyone but learn to move forward with each other. This was the main story that drove the movie, and the action revenge plot that Colin Farrell's character is taking is the secondary story line. That part plays out with a satisfactory ending, how Farrell's character was able to pull it off though, was just a little unbelievable. He had basically been an ordinary guy who's life was destroyed, and all of the sudden he was a super bad ass with unlimited resources and the extraordinary skills needed to pull off such an elaborate revenge plot. I could not extend belief that far even for a movie. Overall I enjoyed it and am glad that I took a chance on a movie that would usually not be my style.

Interesting movie, saw it's previews on another movie and it looked interesting, so we picked it up.

Rapace can act and Danish director Niels Oplev cast her as the female lead (but not the eye candy) after their success in the first '.....Dragon Tatoo' film. I'm not sure why he used Farrell : he's lean, broody and says little but stares a lot. Sadly the plot and the action didn't do much for me, despite the fleeting presence of luminaries Isabelle Huppert, F Murray Abraham and Armand Assante and able support from Terrence Howard and Dominic Cooper.The plot was typical revenge fare, the action quite ordinary, the backstory behind the set up for revenge of no less than two of the protagonists was skimpily told and the characters had little depth, the usual complaint when the writer/director wants the viewer to empathise with the players and doesn't succeed.English subtitles, a few bonus features on the disc if anyone's interested.

This isn't a real life gritty crime drama, but a crime-fantasy,set in New York.This is an existentialist film, for grownups. We are in a film with it's own rules and values, in it'sown world. And, that is why I liked it...Too many crime dramas these days try too hard to be "real",but fail on so many levels, or are very loosely based on a"true story". There's none of that here. This is a very wellthought out adult movie, for people with brains in their heads.

Arrived in brisk time. Seen exerts of this film on a tralee which prompted me to buy. Colin Farrel played in some good roles and I've seem similar movies compared to this.good probing story very on edge enthralling action scenes,well mapped,good character performances.gripping,intense to the extreme. Superb and enjoyable.

I enjoyed this. It's about a man whose family are killed by a gang. He infiltrates the gang with a false identity then goes out of his way to kill them. Not sure it needs the 'guy meets girl' cliché in it and it can be a bit slow at places because of this, but overall it's a good movie. Probably between 3 and 4 stars.

Really good film, wasn't too enthusiastic having seen the reviews but Colin Farrell has had some great performances. Keep you gripped throughout and story is well mapped out, lots of action but not too extreme in the Hollywood sense. Really worth the time taken to watch, you won't be disappointed.