Dead Man Down Reviews

Well shot and well acted, 'Dead Man Down' just feels like a forgettable extrusion of the neo-noir canon. It's nothing revolutionary and nothing unique, but it'll hold your attention.

Victor (Farrell) is a member of a drug gang headed by Alphonse (Howard), the man who, two years earlier, unknowingly was responsible for the death of Victor's wife and young daughter. Victor secretly plots against Alphonse, sending him pieces of a mysterious photo each time he kills one of his gang. One night, Victor goes on a date with his neighbor Beatrice, a French girl who has become a recluse after a car accident left her with facial scarring. Beatrice reveals to Victor that she witnessed him murder one of Alphonse's men and uses this knowledge to blackmail him into killing the drunk driver responsible for her accident.
'Dead Man Down' is the story of a man hiding his true identity but the film seems to suffering from several identity crises of its own. Produced by World Wrestling Entertainment, it's a far more serious film than this association would lead you to expect, and I'm pretty sure it doesn't feature any wrestlers, certainly not in the lead roles. There are only two sequences which could be described as "action scenes" but even that's pushing it. Most of the film feels like the filler you usually find in between such set-pieces. Think of a Jason Statham movie with all the action moments edited out and you'll have a good idea of the overall tone of this film.
Director Oplev was responsible for the original Swedish version of 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', an unremarkably directed TV movie, so it's strange that he would be offered a big American film like this. The WWE seem determined to avoid stereotyping so much that they even cast that poster girl of European arthouse cinema, Isabelle Huppert, in a minor role as the mother of Rapace's character. Any continental feel they were striving for, however, is undone by the subplot of Rapace's facial scar. It's practically unnoticeable, as no commercial American film is going to cast an attractive actress only to cover her face in scar tissue.
Dead man down? Dead duck floating more like.

I liked Dead Man Down. The title is stupid and admittedly the movie is forgettable. But in a genre I seem to like more and more, this at times artsy European-feeling crime thriller is entertaining enough for me. Not sure I need to own it or anything, but I was glad I showed up.

There have always been many films like Dead Man Down but this seems to stand out because of how more slow burning it seems compared to the more gung-ho revenge films. With a clever plot, good action scenes & great acting. Itâ??s hard not to enjoy Dead Man Down.

The story of DMD seems quite common and run-of-the-mill but it is presented in such a way that it seems different from the rest. The story follows a middle ranking gangster who plots his revenge against his boss who killed his daughter and wife. By just reading that, it could put you off the movie because it sounds very familiar, but just by learning it is directed by the guy who directed the original Swedish film The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo may just change your mind.

Dead Man Down is a different kind of revenge thriller because as you can tell from the outset, it is slow burning and puts the adrenaline fuelled action on hold. In most revenge films the action comes frequently and heavily. Films like The Punisher are constantly hitting the gas on action scenes, whereas DMD is more reserved and slower; easing into the action rather than pushing it at every opportunity. Sure it gets carried away with a dubstep slow motion action scene where bullets fly and bodies drop.

Niels Arden Oplev joins the ranks of Chan-wook Park in being a very successful foreign director who makes an English language debut. And while I didnâ??t manage to check out Stoker, I can confirm that Niels can make a great film outside of his comfort zone. And while TGWTDT is obviously a better film, DMD is a great film and you can tell it was a unique director at the helm due to how different it felt.

I was impressed with the stars of the film. Terrance Howard was the highlight for me but Noomi Rapace & Colin Farrell were great. Everyone hit the tone very well with few exceptions (Dominic Cooper). The action is great, with a few impressive set pieces (assassination building escape & final standoff) that look very stylised.

Overall, Dead Man Down is a very entertaining revenge thriller that is definitely worth seeing if you want to see fresh material to a tired sub-genre. Great acting, story, twists, story developments, action & set pieces.

Dead Man Down represents perhaps the most odd blending of film styles in a thriller this year, and with mixed results.

The story, cliched in many respects, is not without it's interesting elements. This is perhaps where the foreign director's touch is felt the most, with a very European sensibility with its scene set up, seemingly completely uninterested in pace, and far more interested in building slow momentum and character intrigue through the use of long scenes. This, unfortunately, doesn't work well on the whole, and makes the film feel sluggish.

The screenplay has often terrible dialogue and sloppy plot twists. It does have some more competent elements, but is notably unpolished and is the worst thing about the film. Having said that, however, the actors manage to lift the material up through their delivery, and save what would otherwise be a hopelessly inept story.

It has a certain cinematography that is reminiscent of Michael Mann in a polished, saturated, yet realist way. This gives the film an atmospheric tone that is felt throughout, and weights the film to a grittier level than it would otherwise be. That is to say, the film undoubtedly looks and feels better than the actual material and execution would suggest.

Overall, it's certainly a mixed bag, but it works well enough to make it a serviceable B thriller.

3/5 Stars

"Dead Man Down" has a slow burn. Filled with a mixture of moments that either feel weighted and impacting or fall a bit slack and uneven, the film is mainly held strong by the leading cast that packs all the punch. Colin Farrell proves he can lead a film, playing the quiet, dark revenge seeker. Noomi Rapace continues to show her undeniable skill as an actress. Even though she is supposed to be presented as a "monster" with "hideous" scars on her face, she's is kept rather charming and eloquent, often taking you out of the film when approached as though she were a crippled hunchback. There's a glimpse of what the film could have been within the first act of the film, when Farrell and Rapace's characters meet one another. You get a sense that their meeting and involvement with one another is innocent and sincere, but your assumptions are turned upside down in the best of ways, an element that could have been implemented throughout the rest of the film. Once you realize the big "twist" of the film, some of the magic disappears and it becomes a straightforward revenge thriller, something Niels Arden Oplev (the original "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo") has plenty of history with. Terence Howard makes a perfect villain and Dominic Cooper again finds the spotlight, proving there's no supporting role Cooper can't raise to a new level. Had "Dead Man Down" been a bit more mysterious, it could have been the best thriller of the year so far, but instead offers up some worthwhile performances all while staying quite average in plot and character development.

Another last man standing shot 'em up with a good performance by Farrell and a mediocre one by Rapace. The pacing was erratic and the body count high.. Not worth it. (3-7-13)

The previews had me doubting Dead Man Down was going to be any good. It gave away too much of the plot. Then, as the movie started "WWE Films" flashed on the screen and I figured it was going to be nothing more than one of those movies with more flashy actors. I was so wrong. I thought it was a powerful film with good performances. I liked the characters and was rooting for them. It's a plot heavy film, but definitely worth seeing.

Great cast, but predictable storyline. It didn't produce anything new, but it was enjoyable.

I thought this was a pretty good movie but it wasn't as good as I had hoped and the trailers were a little misleading. The previews made this film look like a more intense and dramatic version of the Punisher story of revenge. While the story was like that and it developed really well, the emotion and drama and intensity was nowhere to be found. I thought Colin Farrell did a great job and continues to be one of my favorite actors and I also thought Noomi Rapace, though I'm not really a fan of hers, did a fantastic job. The cast was solid and the story had potential. What really hurt this film was the script. The action sequences weren't bad but the characters weren't sufficiently developed and all in all, it just wasn't executed well. While I think the movie was good overall, it disappointed me that it wasn't great. I'd say it's rent-worthy but not theater-worthy.

Not very good at all. One minute it has potential, then the next it's ruined by extremely cheesy and pointless scenes with horrible writing and bad action. Great cast, but poor choice by Farrell and Rapace. Perfect for the horrible Terrence Howard though. He needs anything he can get.

Dead Man Down is a decent film that has some stuff to enjoy while also having some stuff that brought the film down a bit. Before this movie came out I was actually looking forward to it because the trailers made me think that this could be a great revenge flick. After seeing Dead Man Down it just turned out to be decent movie that wasn't used to it's full potential. One of the main issues I had with this film is that the writing was all over the place. There would be some parts where I was into what was happening on screen but there would also be some parts that were just poorly written and took me out of the experience. Now the story to this movie wasn't awful or anything its just that it could have been much better if it had been written better. Probably the worst part of the story would be the ending to the film. Sure the ending action sequence was cool but we've seen this type of ending so many times before and was unoriginal, plus I felt the way it ended was just stupid and silly. I would have found this movie to be a lot better if it had been written better because I still found some elements to this movie to be quite enjoyable. To me Niels Arden Oplev did a very good job at directing this movie because I thought his style worked very well for this movie. Colin Farrell gives a very good performance in this movie and he actually made me care for what was happening to his character unlike everyone else in the film. The rest of the cast in this movie is just ok which I find disappointing since this movie has great talents like Noomi Rapace and Terrance Howard. Overall Dead Man Down turns out to be a decent movie that I enjoyed for the time I was watching it but will most likely forget about it within the next few days. I would recommend renting this one if your interested in seeing it because I think it would be a good rental since its not bad but nothing special.

Saw "Dead Man Down," a twist on a lot of revenge fantasy movies, Hitchcock by way of Oplev, largely successful but a bit slow. 3 of 4 stars.

"Dead Man Down" drops an intense amount of action, drama, and mystery to keep any one person interested in Victor (Collin Farrell) and Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) for a long long time.

A storyline totally engulfed with revenge. A bit slow, some laughs with mediocre mystery and suspense (genre). I was expecting more (because of the cast) that's why I left feeling something was missing from the storyline. In theatres Fri. 3/8

For all the style, it's a fairly run of the mill revenge thriller; lacking the substance of the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Which is saying something.

Interesting, odd and fun. A bit slow at times, but I enjoyed it.

The next movie from the director of the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and it stars Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace. Count me in, the trailer looks amazing.