Dead Man Down Review

• 23rd Sep 2013

Niels Arden Oplev’s follow-up – and his first English language film – to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sisters is this mob thriller, Dead Man Down. Starring Colin Farrell, on his stony-faced action setting, and Noomi Rapace as damaged girl-next-door, the film, though heavy on the action is unfortunately somewhat lacking in thrills.

Essentially a revenge pic, Farrell, as Hungarian-American Victor, has spent months infiltrating Terrence Howard’s team of drug running mobsters in order to serve up some payback for the killing of his family. Quite why it is necessary for him to get all pally with them for quite such an extended period of time is unclear. He is obviously more than capable of following and murdering people from afar. It is a little confusing. Likewise the need to make him Hungarian. Rapace’s well-placed question about his lack of a Hungarian accent – obviously relevant to the plot since he is supposed to be straight up New Yorker – is made laughable by the presence of his Irish burr poking through the thin American veneer.

Dominic Cooper, with similar dodgy accent, as a gangster with heart, just comes off as pointless. He is obviously Oplev’s attempt to inject some humanity into the dour killing-spree that the film eventually reveals itself as. Howard is a by-the-book menacing boss-man showing almost no emotion throughout, which may be necessary to successfully manage a team of ruthless killers, but on film, tends to make things a little boring. The only thing worthy of note is Rapace’s performance as a beautician whose face has been shattered in a collision with a drunk-driver. Her self-loathing and hatred for the world around her is justified, violent and heartfelt. She is wasted on this ineffective concoction of every revenge flick you have ever seen. The action scenes are fast and a bit nasty, but nothing really to get excited about.

The film tends towards boring, even with screeching tyres, huge gun-fights and explosions filling the screen. Farrell is more than capable of bringing a special kind of spark to a damaged and dangerous man (In Bruges) so why this petrified, emotionless grimace? True, the script is very far from humorous, but it does seem a waste. Not the most exciting follow-up for Oplev, but it’s a tad too early to give up on him yet. Let’s see what the future brings.

 Hannah Turner