Dead Man Down (2013)

Director Niels Arden Oplev gets his U.S. independent debut after his international success in season 2008/2009 with adapting the first part of Stieg Larsson's Millinium trilogy "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo". In "Dead Man Down" the director gets the full treat by U.S. producer Neal H. Moritz with a 30 Millions U.S. Dollars production budget to translate a solidly written screenplay by former actor J.H. Wyman and utterly fails bring thrilling suspense to screen.The overall ready-to-go cast around Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace and Terrence Howard with further supports from Isabelle Huppert, playing Rapace's mother, F. Murray Abraham, giving an alibi mentor to Farrell's character and a pale looking Dominic Cooper, who seems to be in the fading from the picture. Niels Arden Oplev takes no chances in a collaboration with cinematographer Paul Cameron. The picture's coverage comes out stale by using uninspired slow-dolly-shots on horizontal planes in stretched-out inactive dialogue scenes to give "Dead Man Down" unnecessary dramatic flavors without reaching any momentum of suspense.When the opening scene rolls out, there was still some credit to follow the story-line with interest before the director loses his grip on the motion picture. The cast left only most of the time with dead beats of staring eye-lines into nothing. The chemistry of main characters of Victor and Beatrice are hardly translated into on-screen actions. They mostly stand or seat in an fair interpreted production design by Danish-import Niels Sejer, presenting the usual gritty New York settings with no surprises. Again Director Niels Arden Oplev makes no use of the production value giving to him. Angles on the shot list come out unbalanced. Actors look confused on-screen, creates the feeling that "Dead Man Down" hardly came together in rough-cut-stage.Producers and writer disappointed with the outcome of "Dead Man Down", delaying the preliminary release date from Fall 2012 to Spring 2013. Experienced French editor Frederic Thoraval gets brought to fix what can be fixed, which is usually the all familiar sledge hammer treatment in the final sequence of the picture. Unfortunately by then, the specter does hardly care what happens to the characters in the resolution scene with no suspense given. The forecast of Niels Arden Oplev already finishing his director's job on a remake of the mediocre thriller "Flatliners" from 1990 for Columbia Pictures seems to be in vain.

It's the acting that sets this movie way above so many others. Of course, there has to be a plausible story, and great direction and production. DMD has just about all that is required.I particularly liked the quite-often long pauses between sentences. That is the way real people talk, they stop to think, they look to one side or somewhere else. If I see a movie that is rapid-fire blah-blah, it will spoil the atmosphere. So, not here. Another good point is the occasional scene which does require some dots to be joined, ie, there is no explicit telling, we have to guess or understand what is going on, ie, Victor is seen walking towards Alex's house and a bit later Vic now knows about Alex's credit card payments, so... he must have gone into the house to get that info.Farrell and Rapace and Terence Howard the very suave bad guy, do such a good job, and Cooper is much better than the awful role in Mamma Mia (IMO). Interesting also is the brief mention of the ship "United States", looking a bit sad and neglected now.One event which is not really explained or even hinted at, is the remote gadget which makes a whole lot of other gear blink green lights. - explosives maybe, or a deleted scene? I'm not sure. The brief "extra" feature on the DVD shows how they prepare for the fights and the escape from the fifth floor, interesting. And both Farrell and Rapace say a bit too.

Dead Man Down starring Colin Farrell. Here he is required to reprise his facially immobile routine as Victor, a New York gangster who's part of a crew run by tough guy, Alphonse Hoyt (Terrence Howard). Alphonse is being menaced by people who are sending strange anonymous messages; meanwhile, Victor finds himself attracted to his troubled neighbour Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), who lives with her hearing-impaired mum, (Isabelle Huppert). Dead Man Down soon collapses into violent and boring nonsense. The film is a forgettable crime thriller with twists that come too late that barely matter to move the plot forward. The acting is what we would expect from a film of this quality. The film tends to drag on at several points and is focused on parts where we have seen before, in greater crime drama thrillers.

Underrated, with High Expectation from the Director of the Original, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009) and also Starring "The Girl", Noomi Rapace, this Disappointed many Critics that Wanted that Bottled Lightning to Strike again. Not Quite.Although this is a Complex Neo-Noir with Quirky and Flawed Characters it isn't as Rich as the Aforementioned, but then again, Few Films are. This one is a bit Confusing but is Helped Along with a Moody Atmosphere and Performances. It has a Distinctive European Feel with a Dash of Hollywood Action.The Mix works, mostly, but the Ambiguous Script does not do it Justice. Justice, or Rather Revenge, is the Theme here and its Undercurrent is a bit Heavy Handed but Remains a Satisfying, Offbeat Thriller that is a Great Looking, Dimly Lit Movie where Tone is Everything and it manages to Maintain that Ambiance.Colin Farrell Fans won't be Disappointed. It is Different Enough for those Seeking something that is apart from the Usual Gangster/Action Movies and may be a Surprise for those Jaded Types so used to more of the Same. The Ending is Overly Wild and may not have the Best of Conclusions. It almost seems that the Director might have Sold Out with the Final Scene, but Overall this is a Good Buy.