Child 44

I am one of the biggest critics when it comes to being negative about swedish films. Those who know me personally knows what i have to say about certain titles. I think you might have understood this over the years since i started this movie review blog, becaue i give my honest opinion. But we do get some good films released, when i least expect it. Not that long ago, i did see a swedish film that was better than i expected, with the title Min Så Kallade Pappa, by director Ulf Malmros. Maybe it was because Mikael Nykvist did such a good performance, including a great performance by lead actor Vera Vitali. So i am not always against swedish films, a few times there are some titles that are released that turn out alright. We just need more quality films, because i know we have young directors with great ideas and visions, that needs to be on screen. Speaking of swedish films, we have a trilogy of films made from the title Easy Money. When the first film came out, audiences were crazy about this new action thriller by director Daniel Espinosa, and critics were very pleased with his camera work, including the quality of acting. He did not direct the 2 sequels that came out, but they still managed to become successfull either way. Instead, Daniel made the choice to direct a much bigger film production, taking on the action thriller Safe House. This was also a good film, with a much bigger budget, with actors like Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. It was a box office success, and Daniel was now on his way to make more big budget films. His next project, was to make an film adaption of the novel Child 44, by author Tom Rob Smith. And this time he was going to make a film, with an even bigger cast list than before. I was actually curious to see his next film, just because i have read about the case of The Butcher Of Rostov, and seen some tv films in the past about the murderer. With a cast of many respected actors, and a respected director, is Child 44 an interesting look at this legendary russian case, or is the final product nothing what we expected it to be ?

In the year 1953, MGB Agent Leo Demidov ( Tom Hardy ) is chosen to investigate the murder of Alexei Andreyev´s ( Fares Fares ) young son, found naked with flesh wounds at train rails. It does not take long until another body of a young child is found brutally murdered. Not knowing who is behind these murders, the Ministry Of State Security, decide that Leo should be replaced after complications, together with his woman Raisa Demidova ( Noomi Rapace ), to the location known as Rostov. Here Leo is set to work together with General Nesterov ( Gary Oldman ) and his men, to find the child killer. More victims are found on different locations, and Leo belive that this killer might be using the train to find victims along the train rails. As the investigation goes on, Leo is still struggling with personal problems, and he is still not getting along with former collegue Vasili Nikitin ( Joel Kinnaman ). Suddenly it seems that they might actually have some information, that it could be a factory worker behind the killings. But is this really true, or is there someone else behind these brutal murders ?

Director Daniel Espinosa, have proved himself to be an effective director in the past, with films like Easy Money and Safe House. And when i saw the cast list for Child 44, with names like Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Charles Dance and Vincent Cassel, i thought to myself that this could actually be something interesting. We even have a swedish cast that speaks for itself, with Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman and Fares Fares. With hopes that Child 44 would deliver an interesting story around a child murderer in Russia, i had to think about what i just saw as the end credits roll down.....

This must be a joke.....

Why? Where should i start ? The acting from almost every single actor is awful, even Tom Hardy is not good in the lead role. How is that even possible after films such as Locke and Mad Max: Fury Road ? What about Gary Oldman ? He is perhaps not awful, but he does not seem to care about his character. I am most embarresed about swedish actor Joel Kinnaman, he was good in Robocop, and did alright in The Killing tv series. But here ? Oh man, did you really want to be on set at all ? It feels like he just went in to shoot his scenes to get his paycheck. Noomi Rapace is actually one of the few actors who actually tries to act, even if she have done much better films in the past. To see legendary actor Charles Dance here, after his really good performance in The Imitation Game, is kind of sad. He is probably the only actor who actually does a good performance, in the few minutes he is on screen. He deserve so much more respect than this film, including Gary Oldman of course. Child 44 is a big mess, both in production value and you can´t really care about the characters. When you have an interesting story about a child murderer, you need to find a way to make it emotional and disturbing to keep the viewer interested. Especially since it is based on the true case of The Butcher Of Rostov. Here you feel almost nothing at all, while the investigation keeps on going, it is almost like director Daniel Espinosa said at a meeting.....

:- Listen up everyone, i want you to try and act like police officers, just try at least, and we will use the scenes, no matter how they turn out.

I have nothing against him personally, or his previous films, because i know he is a good director with the right material. I don´t know what went wrong with Child 44, or why he choosed to direct this film. Maybe he had a bigger vision, and it just did not turn out the way he thought. One of the few things i can say is positive, is at least the locations they used. It almost feels like you are in Russia, and the train scenes look ok. But apart from this, there is not much more to say about this film. Child 44 is a big disappointment, and i was actually looking forward to seeing this film with such a great cast list. I suggest you see one of Daniel Espinosa´s earlier films instead, because i know he can direct films with the right script. His latest film though does not give us much at all, on any level.

Rating: D