Righteous Kill

Robert De Niro and Al Pacino team up again for a movie but the intensity and adrenaline is palpitating much more when they are opposed rather than on the same side. The movie Heat, where they went full throttle just devastates this movie. This movie was satisfactory kind of like Cage's Bangkok Dangerous.

Carla Gugino was absolutely stunning as she was in one of Cage's worst movie and came out in the late 1990's which was Snake Eyes. She was central to this movie as was 50 Cent. 50 Cent played a role which is not much different to his real life persona and lifestyle.

Righteous Kill tossed out Brian Dennehy who actually saw with my own eyes in a plush hotel in 96 when I was playing baseball at CSUS. He was the Lt. and performed adequately and has been seen so many times now.

This movie was not any better than 15 Minutes which starred De Niro which does not say much. That movie was nothing spectacular and one should not expect any more out of this film. I know I did not. Pacino's Two for the Money and The Recruit both were superior to this movie. This movie stayed in about 6 different locations, it did not go any where. A couple of restaurants, a softball field, 50 Cent's club, their office, a couple of homes, it was like a merry go round. It did have a twist at the end as every movie that is made now a days does. Nothing special there.

The plot is about a serial killer who is killing scum bags who are acquitted of or committing heinous crimes. Should someone take the law into their own hands? It all depends. The people that say no to this are the ones who probably never had one if their loved one's life turned upside down or been a victim of a savage crime themselves. Those people who say no could be construed as selfish and narrow minded. The victims in the movie all spawned more victims because of their nasty deeds. The public was not clamoring for this kind of killer to be caught. Funny, this movie never did have any press or public discussion, forum, or scenes. I would think that the public would be split, most liberals would want this kind of killer to be caught and others would probably offer some support or say good riddance to these terrible people who were being targeted.

The movie was not boring but it was not riveting either. It will probably last two weeks in the theatres. Traitor blows this movie out of the water and Traitor's ending was disappointing. RocknRolla is the best movie out now and the funniest comedy of the year was Pineapple Express. The latter is a film I could watch again with unsuspecting people who have no scene it and just laugh at the movie's many hilarious scenes.

The killer in Righteous Kill messed up at the end. Then he had to go down, why he shot the hip hop star and club owner is not really clear. And he attacked the forensic's expert which apparently was the only one in that part of the city was foolish as well.

Even with this stellar cast, Death Race was superior to this film.

John Leguizamo was tremenous as he always is and I wish he remained in ER longer. It was the second time he has worked with Donnie Wahlberg. They were in a cable TV movie a couple of years ago which was interesting. Donnie's brother, Mark, is just a magnet for top notch and exciting movies now.

The most incredible thing regarding this movie is De Niro actually made an appearance on Letterman's show reading off the top ten list with Pacino. De Niro never gives these shows the time of day, he lets his work speak for him. Is that old school or just being humble, not sure, but it has worked for him. De Niro has remained one of Hollywood's class acts and most splendid actors for decades.

This movie is allotted two stars. **