Dead Man Down

Noomi Rapace became an over night sensation here in Sweden. Her character Lisbeth Salander, introduced in the swedish movie Män Som Hatar Kvinnor ( The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ) became a huge hit all over the world, and it was easy to understand why. This was one of the few swedish movies that was actually good, while Svensk Filmindustri still put out money to Colin Nutley to make fucking shit movies. The sequels ( there were 2 more ) were not as good as the first movie, but Noomi Rapace still made an impact, as Lisbeth Salander. As she became famous, she got bigger roles in Europé, and of course Usa. I enjoyed her character in Babycall, a norwegian thriller, maybe a very slow thriller drama, but well acted. What about Sherlock Holmes : A Game Of Shadows ? She was in there, but nothing i can say i remember much about her character. Moving on into the future, it looks like Noomi is here to stay, offered more roles, in different genre movies. In her new thriller Dead Man Down, is she still delivering as the actor we like, or has she lost her way in the Hollywood jungle ?

Victor ( Colin Farrell ) works as a hitman, and clean up when ordered to by the ruthless kingpin Alphonse Hoyt ( Terence Howard ). Alphonse finds one of his men in a freezer killed with a note, and some pictures taken of Alphonse. He realise this might be one of his enemies, so he takes a chance and visit a group of Jamaicans, that do drug dealing and disturbution. A massive shootout kill them all, and Alphonso belive he took care of the problem. In the appartment house Victor lives in, he can see a woman across the street, on the balchony everyday. After some time, the woman living in the building next to Victor, named Beatrice ( Noomi Rapace ), puts a message in Victors mail box. She would like to meet him, and Victor agrees. Out on a date, everything seems as usual, until Beatrice shows pictures, that she knows Victor murder people. She offer him a deal, she will keep her mouth shut, if he kills the man that injured her face in a car accident. At first, Victor does not agree to take the mission, but since Beatrice have information that police really want, he decide to change his mind. Meanwhile Alphonso arrange a meeting with Long Gordon ( Armand Assante ), a famous criminal with information. He have recieved a letter, and some photos, just like the ones Alphonso found in the freezer, but with different writings. Alphonso realise he have not found the person behind this, and begin a bigger search. Victor start planning the assassination of Beatrice´s chosen victim. But once Victor begin to work outside his criminal team, problems start growing by every minute.

The same director who directed The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo ( not the american version ), Niels Arven Oplev directed Dead Man Down also. These are very different genre movies, so let´s not compare them. But i have to say i enjoyed his swedish movie more than this american thriller. Maybe because this feels like the story we have seen before, with not many surprises along the way. Thankfully this still works out, since along the way Dead Man Down gets better. Especially thanks to some of the actors like Armand Assante, Terence Howard, and Colin Farrell. But it hurts to say this, Noomi Rapace does not deliver this time like she used to do. She is not awful, she just seem to be uninspired by her character. Speaking of Armand Assante, it is a shame we don´t see this legendary actor more in bigger motion pictures. He can deliver, if he gets a powerful character, to prove his acting talent. The story is kind of slow at some moments, but once the action hits in, Dead Man Fall climb to a better level. Colin Farrell have been better before, but at least gives enough to please the audience. I would recommend The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo over this one, but still this is not a bad thriller, there are some good moments here, and once they hit the screen, we get a pleasent journey.

Rating: DDD