Quick Hits: Dead Man Down

Dead Man Down

20 years ago, this film would have seemed more ordinary than its already ordinary nature. The simple contrast to our movie world is that it’s an action film which deposits more of its time to building up a story, characters, and a relationship instead of just blitzing the audience with detailed effects and then dabbling in moments of drama. Just like Swat from 2003 and also starring Colin Farrell, the film’s nice quality is its own simplicity and ability to tell a story.

In the story, Farrell is a man who is on the inside of a gang that killed his wife and child. They believing he is also dead, he is able to reinvent his identity and become a member so he can fulfill revenge methodically. There is an element of terrorism to systematically killing member after member, sending packages to taunt, and even holding one as hostage. The wrinkle in the story comes when he meets his neighbor, a facially disfigured woman, (played by Noomi Rapace) who also has vengeance on her mind. Plot conveniently enough, she witnessed Farrell kill a man from her window and recorded it on her phone. She wants him to kill the man who caused her car accident because he was negligently under the influence at the time. Farrell is reluctant to become anyone’s gun-for-hire.

The meat of the story is how the two come together and combat each others thirst for vengeance. She starts to like him and find moments of happiness in her life but knows Farrell has it in his mind the only way to kill everyone is a grand suicide form of killing. He believes she should be above vengeance and try to find better moments in life. At late stages in the story, both try to foil the others plan for the sake of the others livelihood.

The good thing about the film is that while the trailer has a lot of action sequences, the film does not. It’s methodical and only focuses on a few elements personal relations between the character. The film is too plot ridiculous and could have found ways to reign it in, but after all said and done, the film feels like it holds back than other effect efforts. By the end, there are a few legitimate tender moments that are earned. Definitely fails in feeling withdrawn compared to smart dramas or better handled thrillers.

I mentioned the terrorism element to the story. It’s interesting to me since a number of Hollywood movies pit “good” guys against bad guys and the manner in which the characters operate has a lot of terrorist identification. It isn’t a serious Battle of Algiers debate on whether terrorism seriously can ever be ethical, but more of a comment on our cultures attraction to violence and how if we can sympathize with the ends in a fight, we don’t quibble too much about the means a character will go about settling a score or fighting something heinous. The Matrix is still the king of this genre. No comment necessary about Dead Man Down since it’s just a personal vendetta and smells like suicide bomber means by the end. For me, just always interesting to watch a movie and add it to a very unlikely club.