Righteous Kill is a film fan’s dream pairing of cinema legends Robert Deniro and Al Pacino. Sure they were on the silver screen together before but never in a role like this that has them interacting through 90% of the movie. The basic plot is the case of a vigilante serial killer that is murdering a lot of bad people. Deniro and Pacino are Detectives TURK and ROOSTER (UGH! Terrible names) who are assigned to the case. It starts off very odd. Detectives are watching Deniro confess to the murders on video tape. So right away you know one of two things could happen. 1) Throughout the entire movie you know who the killer is so there’s no mystery at all to the story. 2) There’s a big twist in the end. Gee, I wonder which one a filmmaker would choose. With 1 you get possible boredom and no suspense, and with 2 you get a big reveal in the end to surprise viewers. So why set it up in the very beginning? This is the major downfall of the movie and causes it to stink immediately.
You could say Deniro and Pacino are passed their prime. Pacino seems more concerned with overacting and yelling like a madman in most of his recent movies and I think Deniro did one too many comedies to remember how to truly be a dramatic actor. Maybe it’s just that they’re too old? Maybe it’s because their names are Turk and Rooster? Or maybe I’m wrong and this script just stunk. Director Jon Avnet did poorly getting anything out of the two legendary actors but then again this is the same guy that directed Pacino in 88 Minutes. Pacino is surprisingly subdued this time around while Deniro is the crazy mofo. It also has a few co-stars but you would never know from any trailers because Pacino and Deniro get all the spotlight. John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg are another set of detectives who are dead set on the fact that the vigilante killer is a cop. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is the local drug dealer. The hot ass Carla Gugino is a forensics expert who is in a relationship with Deniro. They all aren’t bad in the movie but they’re overshadowed by the two head honchos.
Anyway, like I said before, any avid movie watcher will know what’s going to happen from early on in the film. I guessed it from the beginning and I never doubted myself. When something like that happens, it kind of ruins a movie. I really wanted to like this flick. It got terrible reviews and so far I haven’t heard of a single person liking it. That doesn’t affect my review usually. I’ll see some movies that were deemed CRAP and still get some enjoyment from them. Deniro & Pacino, a must see you would think. But I can’t go against the general public on this one. Righteous Kill is a righteous turd.
IMDB – 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes – 23%
Movie Wiseguys – 4/10
They’ve starred in a lot of movies that used this term so TURK & ROOSTER should know what it means…
