rawfa
09-14-2008, 02:28 AM
Independently of being a long time film historian or a simple casual
spectator, the names De Niro and Pacino are known throughout the globe
as a synonymous of something larger than greatness. They represent the
last fragments of a golden generation for acting. Sure there's good
actors today, but these two...these two are just different. When you
say De Niro or Pacino immediately an almost mythological weight
presents it self, for these two have entered movie history by
re-writing the concept of acting forever. So, after a lot of
speculation, when I've read that a film was being made where these two
Goliaths would finally share the screen (come on, Godfather and Heat
just do not count) it was like a long life dream come true. I
immediately thought of the sea of possibilities for a film that was
bound to go down as a classic on movie history. I thought about all the
screenwriters and directors that could do wonders with these two (all
will agree that Coppola and Scorsese immediately come to mind almost as
a cognitive reflex)...and then I've read the plot and the director
name. A plot that is so deprived of imagination that it could have been
written by simply replacing the characters names of all the thousands
and thousands of photocopy scripts that have been remade over and over
again since movies first existed (the poor Lumiere brothers would think
again about inventing it had they seen the abomination that is
Righteous Kill). And as for Jon Avnet, well, he is not Coppola or
Scorsese. I don't know if this is true or not but I've read somewhere
that you need to have a special driver's license to be able to drive a
Ferrari. I really think this should be the case for directors regarding
directing De Niro and Pacino. It is with great great sadness that I say
that this film is nothing but a mere caricature of the greatness these
two names used to represent. I will not even get into details about
plot and script (the old and predictable good cop, bad cop, serial
killer, "twist" at the end), but I can say that for those utopic
dreamers who were hoping for a heroic come back by De Niro and Pacino
after more than a decade of mediocre work, the dream is over. Those who
were expecting Raging Bull and Serpico will get nothing more than Aging
Dull and Sleepico. Righteous Kill has broken my heart. Not because of
the movie it is, but because of what it represents in therms of film
history. It's simply a sad day for movie history.
Rafael S.C. Lopes Copyright © 2008
spectator, the names De Niro and Pacino are known throughout the globe
as a synonymous of something larger than greatness. They represent the
last fragments of a golden generation for acting. Sure there's good
actors today, but these two...these two are just different. When you
say De Niro or Pacino immediately an almost mythological weight
presents it self, for these two have entered movie history by
re-writing the concept of acting forever. So, after a lot of
speculation, when I've read that a film was being made where these two
Goliaths would finally share the screen (come on, Godfather and Heat
just do not count) it was like a long life dream come true. I
immediately thought of the sea of possibilities for a film that was
bound to go down as a classic on movie history. I thought about all the
screenwriters and directors that could do wonders with these two (all
will agree that Coppola and Scorsese immediately come to mind almost as
a cognitive reflex)...and then I've read the plot and the director
name. A plot that is so deprived of imagination that it could have been
written by simply replacing the characters names of all the thousands
and thousands of photocopy scripts that have been remade over and over
again since movies first existed (the poor Lumiere brothers would think
again about inventing it had they seen the abomination that is
Righteous Kill). And as for Jon Avnet, well, he is not Coppola or
Scorsese. I don't know if this is true or not but I've read somewhere
that you need to have a special driver's license to be able to drive a
Ferrari. I really think this should be the case for directors regarding
directing De Niro and Pacino. It is with great great sadness that I say
that this film is nothing but a mere caricature of the greatness these
two names used to represent. I will not even get into details about
plot and script (the old and predictable good cop, bad cop, serial
killer, "twist" at the end), but I can say that for those utopic
dreamers who were hoping for a heroic come back by De Niro and Pacino
after more than a decade of mediocre work, the dream is over. Those who
were expecting Raging Bull and Serpico will get nothing more than Aging
Dull and Sleepico. Righteous Kill has broken my heart. Not because of
the movie it is, but because of what it represents in therms of film
history. It's simply a sad day for movie history.
Rafael S.C. Lopes Copyright © 2008