Disappointing! 4/10

Rating: 4/10 (31 August 2015)

Review: I quite enjoyed this movie, mostly because of Tom Hardy's performance but it does take a long time to get going. It also dragged in parts and the investigation about the murdered children was weak and not that detailed. Anyway, it's about a highly ranked officer (Hardy) in Moscow who is demoted because he won't denounce his wife as a traitor. He then gets sent to a Volsk to join the Militsiya as a low ranked officer alongside general Mikhail Nesterov, played by Gary Oldman, while his wife, who used to be a elementary teacher, cleans in a school. Hardy struggles through a troubled relationship with his wife whilst trying to investigate these dead kids bodies that keep on turning up in random areas. His best friend lost his child to the serial killer so the case is close to his heart but none of the officers want to admit that there is a problem in Moscow so it's hard for him to get any help. He finally convinces Oldman that there is a serial killer on the loose so they get together enough information to track down the brutal killer. There wasn't much depth to the investigation and there wasn't an conclusion to his troubled marriage. He does give her a ultimatum to leave him but I don't know if she stayed with him out of love or the fact that her life was in danger because she was branded a traitor. Although the performances were brilliant from all of the cast, the movie seemed to drag and it seemed like it was going round in circles. There is a sense of intensity throughout the film because they are on the run from officers most of the time but there isn't that much action and I was left feeling empty when the movie had finished. I did like the chemistry between Oldman and Hardy but for a two hour movie, they seemed to crack the case with ease, even though they were the only two people investigating the murders. Judging by the box office takings, it didn't really go down with audiences that well but you can't fault Hardy's performance. Average!
Round-Up: Tom Hardy, 37, has really made a name for himself since his role as Bronson in 2008 but he did star in some top films like Layer Cake, Black Hawk Down, Star Trek: Nemesis and RocknRolla before that leading role. Since Bronson he has starred in the lead in big movies like Mad Max, which I heard was quite good, Inception, brilliant but bloody confusing, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Lawless, This Means War, Dark Knight Rises and Warrior so he has to be happy with his career so far. He first hit the screens in 2001 in the Band of Brothers series and his 30 movies to date have grossed over a billion dollars worldwide, which isn't bad going for a late bloomer. I personal think that he's going to be one to watch because he doesn't play safe by picking the easy roles and he has proved that he can take on any genre. This movie was directed by Swedish born Daniel Espinosa who also made Safe House with Denzel and Ryan Reynolds but thats about it. He also made an "unheard of" movie called Easy Money which starred Joel Kinnaman in the lead but that seemed to have slipped under the radar. Joel Kinnaman also played the villain officer in this movie so that explains why he was picked for that role. He really reminded me of Hayden Christensen for some unknown reason! Anyway, I did have high expectations for this movie because I am a Tom Hardy/Gary Oldman fan but I didn't find the movie that brilliant. Noomi Rapace was a good choice as Hardy's wife but she just had to put up and shut up through most of the movie so you don't get that much input from her. There are a couple of emotional scenes with the couple but there relationship was in turmoil right from the beginning. With all of these elements going on through the film, it should have been much better than it was but I just wasn't that impressed.
Budget: $50million Worldwide Gross: $3.3million (Terrible!)
I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/thrillers about an highly ranked officer in Moscow whose on the hunt for a serial killer who is brutal killing young kids. 4/10