Ridiculously Over The Top

Rating: 2/10 (29 April 2012)

Obviously, this movie is a sort of "Death Wish"-inspired movie, with the main character (Clyde, played by Gerard Butler) out to get revenge after the gruesome murders of his wife and daughter. The difference is that Clyde doesn't turn vigilante. Instead, 10 years later, he sets out to take revenge on the justice system (mainly represented by the prosecutor Nick, played by Jamie Foxx) that agreed to a deal with one of the guys who invaded his home in exchange for testimony against the second.
The idea has been done. It may be inspired by "Death Wish" but it's been done elsewhere as well. Done to death might be a way of putting it! Basically two things bothered me. The lesser of the two was that the movie essentially opens with the murders, so I had no chance to develop any real connection at all with the wife and daughter who were killed. A little more development of the family's life would have drawn me more fully into Clyde's anguish. Of course, I can understand the raw emotions that would be involved, but there's no real connection. That's a weakness. Mostly, though, I just found this to be ridiculously over the top.
I have no objections to movies that are "over the top." Generally speaking, though, even an over the top movie has to have some semblance of believability; something that causes me to say "yeah. I could see that happening, no matter how silly it seems." This one had none of that. The character of Clyde - as he's eventually developed in the movie (both in his background and in how he's pulling off the revenge he seeks) - was, I'll say it again, ridiculously over the top. I couldn't even begin to buy into it - not even for a second. And, given the aura of total unbelievability involved, I found it dragged on and on. You know Clyde will eventually be caught - just get to it, was my attitude through most of this. Get it over with. After the first few shocking bits of revenge, it lost its power and I just wanted to get to the climax - which, to be honest, I found a bit anti-climactic. (2/10)