I need to talk about this movie. I mean we all love a good revenge flick now and then – there are thousands of them out there so you cannot tell me otherwise. But this one is a gem. For several reasons. It’s no art flick, it’s not going to make you think, it’s just pure explosions and mayhem. And I mean mayhem – it would not me a Mads film if it wasn’t messy and mildly squicky.
I mean I adore Mads Mikkelsen. The man can act circles around so many other actors without even saying a word. (Don’t believe me? Check out Valhalla Rising but be forewarned it is not for the faint of heart.) So of course I was going to watch this one because I’ve seen nearly everything else he’s been in. And before we go much further, this movie would not have been as good if it had been cast differently in any way. They chose very well – and I do not say that lightly – all the actors were great.
The premise is fairly standard fare: an aging assassin is looking to retire. But the retirement fund he’s amassed under the company he worked for (named Damocles because of course it is) is just a little too tempting for his employers to just let him go. And to be an assassin who lived long enough to retire means he’s not going to fuck around – but the younger, more ruthless members of the company aren’t going to give up either.
Which leads me to the next point: this is based on a graphic novel and instead of trying to make this into a gritty revenge flick they leaned into it’s origins. YES!! The colours! omg the colours. You can even see a bit of what I mean in the trailer – they’ve made those colours oversaturated and representative of the various characters in the movie – all of them over the top in one way or another. It’s kitschy, it’s fast-paced, it’s slick, it’s bloody and just a wild, wild ride. Parts of it are laugh out loud funny and parts of it really aren’t. Mads delivers as Duncan Vizla – he’s brutal and yet he’s got this soft streak in him when it comes to animals, and to Camille and I think that rescues the movie from just being just a bloodbath. (Just a word of warning for those of us who adore the small furries: the dog does not make it (no you do not see it). The goldfish, on the other hand, does make it.)
Listening to: NIN – The Wretched
Watching: Polaaar
(re)Reading: Autobiography of Red – Ann Carson
Drinking Malbec/Merlot
Word Count: 4345
Headspace: The Alnwick Garden