Rated R for violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and brief drug use.
Directed by Jon Avnet (88 Minutes)
Starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, 50 Cent, Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, and John Leguizamo
A pretty cool cop movie, but way too predictable.
Academy Award winners Robert de Niro and Al Pacino star as a pair of veteran New York City police detectives on the trail of a vigilante serial killer. After 30 years together on the NYPD, these partners should be ready for retirement, but aren't. Before they can hang up their badges, they are called in to investigate the murder of a notorious pimp, which appears to have ties to a case they solved years before. Like the original murder, the victim is a suspected criminal whose body is found accompanied by a four line poem justifying the killing. When additional crimes take place, it becomes clear the detectives are looking for a serial killer, one who targets criminals that have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system. His mission is to do what the cops can't do on their own — take the culprits off the streets for good.
The premise and cast of Righteous Kill were both great, the execution…not so much. And that’s a real shame. I have mention in other reviews that one of my all-time favorite cop TV shows was Boomtown. Jon Avnet directed nine of those episodes and really knows his way around cop drama. Where he gets lost is in suspense and twist endings. To be honest, the whole keep-you-guessing part felt forced and just didn’t work at all. I wasn’t even past the credits before I had it figured out…that’s not good.
Remember those poems the killer leaves as a calling card? Check out my least favorite: 'The old man who the children trust/Unable to control his lust/Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.' Someone actually wrote that!?!
It’s hard not to be disrespectful to two true movie legends, but the mandatory retirement age for NYPD cops is 63. Bob and Al are 65 and 68, respectively, and, honestly, they look every day of it. The most suspenseful moments were not the action sequences but wondering if they would make it though them without breaking a hip.
A few years ago HBO had a series called Project Green Light. It was a brutally honest behind-the-scenes look at movie making; including fights, rewrites and budget crunches. I would have loved to have seen that with this film because so many times the film seemed to flounder and I couldn’t quite put a finger on what the problem was–it just didn’t work. Maybe there will be some honest insight on the DVD extras…but I doubt it.
As much as Robert de Niro and Al Pacino are legends, it was Donnie Wahlberg and John Leguizamo that really stole the show. And as good as they were, it just wasn’t enough to give this movie anything more than a score of “Only if it’s Free.”
SHOULD KIDS SEE IT?
No, this R-rating comes with a lot of violence and more F-bombs than I care to think about. There are also a few sex scenes that made me cover my eyes…mostly because I don’t want to see Robert DeNiro shirtless.
Side Note:
As said above, we don’t recommend your kids see this film. But on the occasion that they actually have already seen it, you may want to dialogue about the film with them. These questions below may be a help to you.
Conversation Starter
Three Simple Questions (with Answers You May Be Looking for):
- What are some of the messages or themes you observed in this movie?
- How do you suppose we—as serious Christ-followers—should react to this movie?
- How can we move from healthy, Bible-based opinions about this movie to actually living out those opinions?
