Pretty good but could have been genius; Would Recommend

Rating: 8/10 (13 April 2017)

​Plot Overview: After the justice system leaves the man who murdered his wife and daughter alive, Clyde Shelton(Gerard Butler) enacts on a killing spree of revenge and tries to teach the Justice System a lesson.
Directed by F Gary Gray
Starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx
# NO SPOILERS!
Overall: This may be the definitive example of good movie held back from greatness because of the ending. It is a good ride and I imagine you will enjoy it but the end does ruin the film to an extent.
The type of people who like this movie will be people who enjoy a reasonably smart plot and people who enjoy revenge thrillers.
Would Recommend.
# POSSIBLE SPOILERS!
Gerard Butler was amazing as Clyde Shelton and shows that he can be great with a good script and great direction. His character was so sadistic and cruel yet simultaneously interesting and to an extent to feel sorry for him. I think the dynamic of this is brilliant and the movie exploits that well. Jamie Foxx was good as Nick Rice but still, at the end of the day, played a typical jerk lawyer but that doesn't take away from his overall role in the film. What I appreciate is how no one here was necessarily depicted as a GOOD guy. The movie tries to make you root for the victims but still acknowledges that they're still bad people.
I love the story and wholeheartedly believe that the first 2/3 of it are genius and so intricately designed. The 'Grand Reveal' at the end was pretty weak and did little to amaze me. Leading on from this, I believe that the writers began to run out of ideas towards the end. It starts with him infiltrating Death Row to assassinate an inmate in the most painful way possible. Then by the end of the film he's shooting people with a drone. This loss of creativity harms the film and makes the final act weak. I've said it multiple times already but I'll go more in depth into the ending here so take warning to spoilers... Right, so the ending is that Clyde attempts to blow up a bomb beneath the mayor of the city and detonate it from prison. Nick uncovers this and manages to, by some magic, transport the bomb from the town hall(I think) and under Clyde's bed in Solitary confinement before Clyde gets back there himself, making Clyde detonate the bomb, thus committing suicide. This ending is weak for numerous reasons. The first being the fact that it is totally implausible for the entire thing to happen but that is just a logical flaw. The narrative flaw for me is that this is a movie about the little guy get trampled on by the government and then rising above them. Who do you wanna see win in that situation. I imagine the little guy so the movie choosing this ending felt like a cop out and a waste. I would have liked to see Clyde win and, if that happened, would have made me give the movie a 9 or even a 10. Sadly, this ending never happened and we have to make do with what we have.
The movie was competently shot and edited.
The effects looked terrible.
This movie was a cleverly designed thriller that was mostly enjoyable and didn't shy away from death which I admire.
The first two acts were amazing and were brilliantly designed. I have mentioned by hatred of Act III numerous times so I won't go back to it. Another miscellaneous annoyance I had with the film was that a convicted, genius killer who has slaughtered at least 10-20 people, managed to smuggle a bomb past security and plant it directly beneath the mayor. I know I needed to hold my disbelief but this was a little too far.
Personally, I enjoyed the majority of this film and think it was a competently made revenge thriller that lost its way towards the third act.
8/10