Dead Man Down 2013

Peter Debruge, Variety: A derivative collection of brazen plot holes and latenight-cable cliches. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: The movie might have been better if its Swedish director, Niels Arden Oplev, had played with the genre cliches stuffed in this turkey instead of going for straight-up action. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: It takes forever to get going, unspooling its hopelessly convoluted, unwieldy plot for so long that it loses whatever marginal narrative momentum it possesses. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Before this urban revenge melodrama falls apart in a clatter of plot absurdities and pretensions, it has its loopy charms. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Film.com: Dead Man Down is a very serious thriller featuring very serious stars being very serious about the seriousness at hand. Read more

Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter: That crack cast still keeps things involving, especially Rapace's emotionally and physically disfigured Beatrice. Read more

Jake Coyle, Associated Press: The screenplay by J. H. Wyman is squirm-inducing in its preposterous dialogue and haphazard plotting. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: A moody twist of hyper-violent vengeance and heartache where death is hand-delivered, mercy is hard to come by and love is never easy. Read more

David Thomson, The New Republic: Suppose Armand Assante had played the mother, not as a father, as a mother. Suppose Isabelle Huppert had taken the Colin Farrell part. This may be no more than playful, but heaven knows Dead Man Down needs as much of that as it can get. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: This blend of Scandinavian gloom and Hollywood hokum never jells. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Perhaps if Farrell and Rapace and Oplev had all stayed in Europe - and tried to do a similar script, with half-as-much firepower, and twice as much brainpower - they might have had something worth watching. Instead it's just something worth ducking. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Before it devolves into typical American-style action, there's an intriguing, European-style complexity to Dead Man Down. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: While a mob thriller can be as nasty as it likes, what it can't be is silly. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The film has been directed in a murky, rhythmless fashion by Niels Arden Oplev, who directed Rapace in the original, and terrific, Swedish-language The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Explores a common ground for noir thrillers before stumbling and imploding in a climax that feels like it might have been hijacked from an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Yep, there's a whole lot going on here, but this is one of those plot-heavy scripts that carries its weight with confidence - the intricate twists don't cheat. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: The cautionary adage about weaving tangled webs in the process of deception certainly applies to Dead Man Down, an overwrought thriller brought to ground by its own contrivances. Read more

Leah Rozen, TheWrap: In the end, a viewer can do little more than appreciate Dead Man's shimmering look and wish all involved better luck in their next endeavor. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: A way-too-leisurely thriller whose destination is fairly obvious from early on, but to which the talented cast apply themselves with effortful seriousness. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: As a gritty thriller, Dead Man Down doesn't stand out among its bullet-riddled brethren. Read more

Nick Schager, Village Voice: It's all so much turgid brooding, dialogue underlined with import, and leaden symbolism involving Rapace's white and red dresses, none of which is salvaged by a typically understated Farrell performance. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: More a dark fairy tale about vengeance than the action-packed crime thriller it purports to be, the film is at times exhilarating, bold, and beautiful -- when it's not busy being ludicrous, fragmented, and just plain stupid. Read more