Dead Man Down

TITLE: Dead Man Down

GENRE: Crime Thriller

RATING: R for violence, language, and bullying scenes

GRADE: Mixed

Victor is a man with anger in his heart and revenge on his mind after his wife and child were murdered by mafia boss Alphonse Hoyt. To satisfy his vindictive needs, Victor infiltrates Mr. Hoyt’s crime syndicate in an attempt to find the right opportunity to kill the brutal boss. While Victor bides his time, he befriends a disfigured, yet beautiful neighbor named Beatrice, who at first wants to date him, but then blackmails him into exacting her revenge against the drunk driver who disfigured her in the first place. The entire movie is a struggle to find the balance between justice and vengeance as well as coldness and love.

The slow, dramatic pace, Victor’s convincing cover, and his relationship with the forlorn Beatrice make this movie a believable crime thriller. Everything was executed correctly from the shootings to the explosions. Plus, they were executed at the right time. The whole film is about a man who bides his time for the right moment to strike. Not only does he strike first, he strikes hard. Victor knows exactly what he’s up against and times his attacks perfectly so Alphonse Hoyt doesn’t suspect a thing.

Having said all of these things, you’re probably wondering why this movie receives a mixed grade rather than a passing one. The crime thriller conformity was perfectly done, but there’s one aspect of the movie that makes me cringe every time I think about it. Beatrice was disfigured in a drunk driving accident and as a result, the neighborhood kids bully her relentlessly. The bullies’ main gimmick is calling her a “monster” every time they see her and build “jokes” off of that. They even went so far as to carve the insult on her apartment door. These kids need to have the shit beaten out of them, but it never happens. They get away with everything they do and are never heard from again. As someone who experienced bullying in high school, this lackadaisical approach is sickening to me.

The other issue I have with this movie is the lack of screen time for Bad News Barrett, a WWE superstar whose role in the movie was so hyped up it’s the only reason I agreed to see it. Anybody who watches wrestling knows how convincing of a villain Mr. Barrett is. He enslaved John Cena, he led a team of rookies into destroying a WWE arena, he insults the crowd on a regular basis, and he just might win the Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic award for 2014 because he insulted a kid from the Make a Wish Foundation. With all of these evil credentials under Bad News Barrett’s belt, why would they make so little use of him? Why even bother calling Dead Man Down a WWE films production? Sounds like false advertising to me.

If you make the decision to watch this movie, do it because you love crime thrillers. If you’re doing it because you want to see revenge against bratty bullies or because you want to see Bad News Barrett kick some ass, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Despite the flaws this movie has, I can’t really hate it at all. I enjoyed the movie, but not enough to give it a passing grade.