Too derivative to be a great film

Rating: 6/10 (6 May 2018)

BLACK MASS is a crime thriller that strives to hark back to the 1990s era of similar filmmaking, with movies like DONNIE BRASCO and GOODFELLAS ruling the day. This one stars Johnny Depp as a feared and infamous assassin who worked alongside corrupt cops while taking down a string of victims during his violent career. He managed to evade the authorities for many years, no mean feat in itself. The film's plot is packed with murder and violent incident, but it feels like an attempt to return to glory days rather than being anything new or fresh. The profanity irritated me a bit and the endless parade of familiar faces have little to work with. There's no sense of era, really, just more and more time spent in the company of hateful or corrupted characters. I enjoyed it to a degree, but is it one I'd keep coming back to? Not particularly. In addition, Depp's prosthetics - and in particular contact lenses - are too distracting.