A comeback for Johnny Depp

Rating: 7/10 (20 October 2015)

"It's not what you do, it's when and where you do it, and who you do it to or with. If nobody sees it, it didn't happen."
Black Mass is a film based on true story about a gangster named Whitey Bulger, who makes a deal with the FBI to take down his competition.
Now I was really looking forward to watching this because it looked like this will be the comeback of Johnny Depp, and it certainly was. All the acting was top notch but Johnny Depp was the obvious standout. His portrayal of the gangster was chilling, intense and at times creepy. He was again wearing tons of makeup but it added rather than distracting. Easily his best work in years.
The movie was also really well shot. Great cinematography. This, and Johnny Depp's acting really made some scenes really great and intense, and made you go "I want more of those". And I wish we had gotten more such scenes instead of the other stuff we got.
The problem with this movie was that it lacked focus in its story. Events are happening but you don't really feel invested in them. Most of it felt empty. There was no emotional attachment to it. The whole movie had this anti-climatic feel to it. You get scenes with great performances and all but the linkages don't carry out well. It was also predictable at times.
In the end, you just get this hollow feeling, like there was no payoff, and that was a disappointment because the movie definitely had the potential to be a great gangster film. The acting was great, the premise was interesting and it was shot really well. And is definitely worth a try for that, just don't get your hopes up for this being something spectacular.
7/10