Movie Review: Dead Man Down (2013)

Victor (Colin Farrell) is Alphonse’s (Terence Howard) trusted partner in crime. When Alphonse begins receiving threatening messages, a quest to uncover the identity of the perpetrator ensues. Meanwhile Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), Victor’s mysterious neighbor, is keen to be involved in his troubled life.

DeadMan Down is Danish director Niels Arden Oplev’s first attempt to direct an English language movie. Oplev rose to prominence in 2009 when he directed the feature length adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s inherently dark and disturbing novel The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo.

The Dane is also well applauded for launching the fledgling career of Swedish actress Noomi Rapace. She has gone on to star in blockbusters such as Prometheus and Sherlock Holmes.

DeadMan Down is a brooding thriller based on redemption and revenge with heartfelt emotion at its core. Noomi Rapace and Colin Farrell have undeniable chemistry in what unfolds as a stringent double-edged relationship. A destructive yet immensely necessary bond, one which allows for mutual understanding of the inner turmoil they are burdened with. Their back stories pack emotional punch which is powerful enough to overcome.

Also, the casting of Terence Howard as crime boss is astute as he is an intimidating presence who commands attention in confrontational encounters with Farrell. Look out for the expertly shot scene in the darkened room as a prime example. The movie may have a few low key scenes, but wait until you reach the blistering climax.

We are all thankful that Oplev has not crafted a run of the mill, archetypal revenge heist thriller. Instead Dead Man Down transpires as a multi-layered drama. Farrell plays the central role with verve and in a tragic key that pushes his performance up high. Critically, there is no hero to side with in the film. We are left to analyze on our own. Do we have a right to seek revenge? Would an eye for an eye result in immorality? Themes of bullying and the aftermath of disfigurement form central tenets of critical analysis as well.

There is no question that Oplev truly knows how to get the best out of his films.

Movie Review: The Call (2013)

"911, what is your emergency?" Probably the most familiar phrase in America pertaining to emergencies. Is it even possible to make a movie from a 911 call? Director Brad Anderson together with Halle Berry thinks so. The Call has proven that a movie about an emergency call can be a successful thriller.

 It is just another day at the 911 "hive" call center. All the 911 operators are at their stations and busy working. Jordon Turner (Halle Berry) is following her everyday routine when a call comes in from a young girl named Leah Templeton (Evie Thompson). Leah says that someone is breaking into her house. Jordon give her instructions on what to do until the police arrive. Everything is going fine until the call disconnects, and Jordon makes the mistake of calling Leah back. The ringing of the phone leads the killer to Leah's location and is later found murdered. Jordon is devastated.

 After the incident, Jordon can't handle taking 911 calls anymore. She then becomes a 911 trainer for new recruits. During one of Jordon's training sessions, a call comes in from Casey Welson (Abigail Breslin) who states that she has been abducted from a local mall and is in the trunk of a car. The first operator doesn't know how to handle the situation, so Jordon takes the call. It is later discovered that Casey's abductor, Michael Foster (Michael Eklund), is the same person who kidnapped and murdered Leah Templeton. After the identity of the abductor is discovered, it becomes a race against time to rescue Casey.

 If there is one word to describe The Call, it would be gripping. The Call is surprisingly exciting. It is an adrenaline rush from start to finish.

 Each performer in The Call delivers believable and heart wrenching roles and executions. This is Halle Berry at her best. She successfully draws the audience inside the world of real 911 operators. Abigail Breslin is also moving as the frightened teen, and Michael Eklund is terrifyingly brilliant as a psychopath. Even the supporting performers give outstanding presentations.

 The Call is unforgettable. For a film with scenes that would be too disturbing for a young audience, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 the lowest, 5 the highest), this film at least rates a 4. This should not be surprising considering that Brad Anderson has directed the likes of Vanishing on 7^th Street, most of the episodes on the TV sci-fi thriller, Fringe, and a few episodes from Boardwalk Empire, Alcatraz, and Person of Interest.

Movie Review: The Expendables 2 (2012)

Action heroes led by Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger have stormed to the top of the North American box office chart with The Expendables 2.

The film took $28.8m in its first weekend. It knocked The Bourne Legacy into second place after the latter’s good first weekend run.

The Expendables 2 brings back essentially the same cast, with a few additions, and features approximately the same quota of explosions and butt-kicking as its predecessor did, give or take more flame-throwing, skull-bashing, explosions, butt-kicking and, oh well, more dead bad guys.

Sylvester Stallone returns as mercenary Barney Ross, who leads a band of muscle-bound merry men. Barney is usually found in the company of his sardonic sidekick Lee Christmas (Jason Statham). Statham is his usual coolness intact acting even when emerging from very violent situations.

Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), and Jet Li – one of the most appealing characters in the first movie – all appear in the film in their own time. Then, there’s a fresh new Asian face named Maggie (Yu Nan), who seems to exist solely to make moo-moo eyes at rugged he-man Ross, who's having none of that girly stuff. There's also a greenhorn named Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth).

Most of the action takes place in Bulgaria, where Ross and Co. have been dispatched by shadowy CIA go-between Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) to prevent a heap of weapons-grade plutonium from falling into the wrong hands. This requires crash-landing a plane, blowing assorted evildoers to kingdom come, and making the acquaintance of a village full of women whose menfolk have been enslaved and put to work in a plutonium mine.

 Director Simon West (The Mechanic, Con Air) guides the plot as well as the body count. Many may be quick to say that the plot and storyline of Expendables and Expendables 2 is too simple; show us an action film that needs deep thinking because people are coming to watch the action.

 The bodies really do pile up though. TheExpendables 2 is reasonably a boom-boom, rat-tat-tat, wham, wham comic book, which it seems to be. Honestly, people don’t buy comics for the story or even the plot. There’s more wit and jokes though, compared to its predecessor. Sometimes even the dialogue sounds comic-like: "Better duck!" "Oh, [expletive]!" "I got this!" "Fire!" "Yeah!" "Whoa!"

 If you can watch the film to the end without loving Jean-Claude Van Damme’s villainous role, there is something wrong with your sense of action movies.