Friday, September 26, 2008

The one with my take on Righteous Kill



Got to see Righteous Kill yesterday and getting to see De Niro and Pacino on screen at the same time, on the same screen is always a good thing. Or is it??


In a nutshell, De Niro and Pacino play cops. They've been partners since  T-Rex's were thundering about the planet. The movie starts with De Niro in an interview scenario saying he killed 14 people in his 30 years as an NYPD officer. From there on in, we get a dose of flash backs of  those killings. The rest of the story sees De Niro and Pacino along with John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg bicker back and forth about whos doing the killings. And then the pressure is on, once the suddenly figure out its a cop. Throw in the occasional scene with Brian Dennehy, 50 Cent and some steamy(ish) sex with Carla Gugino and you've got a movie that was billed as something fantastic. Actually, scrap the steamy(ish) sex bit, its not even worth opening a belt for!



Is it fantastic? Its got all the right elements, but doesn't entirely live up to the hype. 2 of the greatest actors the world has ever known pull off a performance that doesn't do much really. Id imagine they can pull off this sort of performance off in their sleep, or even if they were in a coma. I'm not saying its bad, but it could have been alot better. Ive heard and read about this movie where some say the ending is quite predictable. Well, I didn't see it coming. Admittedly, my brain was switched off for the movie, so being in idiot mode probably didn't help.

All the same, I enjoyed the ending and I enjoyed the movie. Its not a big pile of steaming shite in any shape or form and if you go see it, leave part of your brain at the door. I was really looking forward to this as a fan of Pacino and De Niro, and seeing the 2 of them share a whole load of screen time together will be  a pants removing moment for a lot of people. I got the vibe from the trailer that this was gonna be a great movie. Its not, but it'll keep you off the streets! Is it worth going to see? Well De Niro and Pacino together are the big draw here and yeah, its worth going to see. Just dont expect a Taxi Driver or Scarface like performance from the lads. You wont be foaming at the mouth with excitement, but you'll enjoy it all the same.

And yes, it is great seeing De Niro and Pacino on screen together. Lets just hope they dont do a fuckin comedy together.

7/10






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