Dead Man Down marks the English language debut of Danish director Niels Arden Oplev, the man behind the original Swedish-language Girl With the Dragon Tattoo adaptation. And it’s yet another case of there being something being lost in translation for such a director as the film is an uneven mix of bombastic crime action and often tedious character drama that doesn’t ring true.
The plot centres on Victor (Colin Farrell), a Hungarian immigrant who has infiltrated the mob organization of the merciless Alphonse (Terrence Howard), the man responsible for the deaths of his wife and daughter. While plotting his revenge, Victor falls for his beautiful but troubled neighbour Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) who threatens to tell the police about a murder she witnessed him committing if he doesn’t help her kill the man who left her physically scarred.
The film starts out with a gung-ho action sequence inside a drug and mobster-filled house, with bullets and bodies flying about in a manner that’s John Woo-esque but without the finesse. From then it grinds to a near halt as it becomes more a character drama but never one that truly compels in the way you’d hope.
There are solid performances from its main cast, with Farrell and Rapace ever-watchable and intriguing performers. Farrell is a lot more toned down than we’ve come to expect from him while Rapace, working with Oplev again after playing Lisbeth Salander for so long, is alluring as the emotionally and physically scarred Beatrice. The trouble is they are ill-served by disappointingly flat characters who are given surprisingly little to do under the circumstances. Their relationship and chemistry crucially never sparks in the way it should.
Some of the key supporting players are either misused or underused including Terrence Howard playing against type as a self-righteous mobster and Brit actor Dominic Cooper disappearing into the role of his scuzzy, ruthless right-hand man. It’s nice to have such acting weight in the mix but you’re left with good actors doing their best with weak characters and an underwhelming by-the-numbers script.
Oplev and screenwriter J.H. Wyman (The Mexican) attempt to weave together an intricate crime tale with added themes of revenge and redemption but it falls at numerous hurdles. It’s never convincing as an action-crime film, despite its best efforts with bombastic and rather out of place scenes bookending the film, nor fully satisfying as a deliberately paced character drama. It’s not without merit as the performances are good and there’s the occasional thrilling sequence to be found – the mobsters chasing Victor without knowing who it is they’re chasing is a particularly highlight – but it’s never enough to justify the bloated runtime. A terrible title leads way to an at best mediocre thriller.
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Dead Man Down is released in UK cinemas May 3rd.
