Pov's Movie Point of View III

Well, I went to the movies last weekend, and saw a really great movie, which I decided to review for this here site, amazingly enough. So here goes.

Righteously Killer


Obviously, I saw the new movie Righteous Kill this weekend, as part of a double feature with Burn After Reading (Which was fun, but quite as good). And I have to say, I really liked it. A lot. If it hadn't come out in a year filled with other amazing performances *COUGH* HEATH LEDGER *COUGH*, I would put it in for a best actor nomination. Maybe not a win, but a nomination.

Righteous Kill is the latest take on the tried and true "Big Actor Team Up Cop Murder Mystery" forumla. That particular formula has had some good results in the past, like the dark, though- and nightmare- provoking Seven with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, and, more recently, the acclaimed The Departed with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Personally, I think this movie is as good as either of those. This time, it's the can't miss duo of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro playing off each other as a pair of veteran detectives in the homicide department investigating the case of a serial killer who kills the low-life scum the cops grab but can't pin a case to, which obviously leads them to suspect a cop as the killer.

This is were reviewing the movie gets tough. You're totally blindsided by the resolution of the case, but the movie does such a good job of weaving clues, hints, and subtleties thoughout, that I really can't go any more in depth than that without giving away something and ruining the movie. It's pushing it to say that I enjoyed how the movie had reasons for me to be suspictious throughout, but managed to allay those suspictions so well, I never saw the end coming. Suffice to say that the movie borrows a lot, structurally, at least, from Fight Club, of all things, although the sociology here is totally different. And like Fight Club, it will defintely bear multiple views, and as such, I can't wait to get it on DVD, so I can catch all the subtleties.

This movie does ask some intriguing questions, though they may not be as deep as other film's social and moral conundrums. Essentially, it brings up the question of vigilante justice (ironic that this movie asks that, but a Batman movie comign out the same year asks much deeper things). Is a crime like murder less bad if committed against someone who the justice system would ideally have put away for a long time, but didn't? If the victim was causing society harm and pain, is killing them righteous or evil? In the end, it's up to the viewers to decide, which is part of the art here. Not to mention the great acting from the leading duo, which in itself comes close to art.


Final Verdict: 3 1/2 Stars. one of my top five films of the year so far, the acting is great, the plot is amazing, and it's message still manages to not wither too badly in compairison with Dark Knight. Highly recomended.