DEAD MAN DOWN is another generic crime thriller starring Colin Farrell, who has lost a lot of the early respect I had for him back when he was making an effort in the likes of MINORITY REPORT and TIGERLAND. Nowadays he stars in stuff like this and the TOTAL RECALL remake, both fluff pieces with nothing new to say.

DEAD MAN DOWN starts on a high note with a profane shoot-out full of violent spectacle. After this it soon slows down to a crawl by introducing a quasi-romantic relationship between a taciturn Farrell and a struggling Noomi Rapace, sporting one of those Hollywood facial scars which is supposed to make her disfigured but rather looks like someone drew a line on her face with red Biro.

The two characters are set on a path of revenge against stock bad guy Terrence Howard but boy, do they take a long time to get there. Although book-ended by quite effective moments, the long slow mid-section of DEAD MAN DOWN is what lets this film down quite considerably. The script just isn't up to much and the characters feel clunky and dull as a result; the viewer can never get involved in their story. It's a pity, as this is another case of Hollywood's wasted potential.

Victor (Colin Farrell) is gangster thug working for Alphonse (Terrence Howard). Somebody is trying play with Alphonse's head by sending him cryptic messages. Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) is Victor's neighbor. She has been scarred in the face by a drunk driver. When she filmed him killing somebody, she uses it to blackmail him to kill the man who caused her pain. Only she's not the only one with a secret pain.

The acting power in this film is quite impressive. This is directed by Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). He certainly has the skills to make a movie. At the start, it looked like just another crime action thriller. Then it added a darker brooding character study. It feels uneven. There are a couple things I find questionable, and the ending feels stuck on from another big action Michael Bay movie. Overall it's still a good effort. If only Niels could stick to one genre or the other, this odd mix would flow more easily.

The gangster Victor (Colin Farrell ) has been working for the powerful mobster Alphonse Hoyt (Terrence Howard) for nine months and has the gratitude of the kingpin for saving his life during an attack to a Jamaican gang. When the criminal Paul is found dead and Alphonse receives pieces of a photo, he tries to discover who is behind the actions. He does not know that Victor is actually the Hungarian engineer Lazlo Kerick, a man who had his little daughter and his wife murdered by Alphonse. Victor has been carefully planning his revenge against Alphonse.

Out of the blue, his neighbor Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) from an apartment on the other side of the street, who has scars on the face due to a car accident, contacts him and shows a footage of Victor killing Paul. She tells that if he does not kill the man that hit her and destroyed her life, she will deliver the footage to the police. The reluctant Victor accepts the deal and after successive encounters, they develop attraction for each other.

"Dead Man Down" is a good tale of revenge that could have been great with improvements in the story and a better conclusion. The gangsters are too dumb and never suspects of Victor. The make-up of Noomi Rapace is very poor for a traumatized woman due to her scars. Further, her character does not inspire pity from the viewers. The character of Isabelle Huppert is silly and pointless, wasting the talent of this magnificent French actress. But the worst is the senseless conclusion, with the stupid attitude of Beatrice that does not post the memory card, just to give the chance to the usual clichés with car crash, shootings and explosions. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Sem Perdão" ("No Mercy")