Hubris taken to the extreme

Rating: 5/10 (26 June 2015)

So, as if American Sniper and Avatar and the countless action, sci-fi, adventure movies are made to exaggerate the machismo of the male sex, this movie is a very action packed, but extremely self-indulgent monstrosity of that concept. Teetering on ill-logic and sense; wandering aimlessly between cinematographic brilliance and irrelevance; dialog that is so shallow and often head-scratching that you would have to fight your sensibilities to continue watching this movie or to end the suffering as these waves of discontent build to a crescendo. Usually, the actors make wonderful choices (Theron and Hardy) in roles but even they couldn't safe this one. I will say that a positive is the redemptive value women are afforded in this movie. Even though the general theme of most movies is hyper-steroid, over-testosteroned men with dysfunctional social tendencies and the submissive, subjugated women subjects...this one offers a bone. Welcome perspective and I imagine this is the only reason the two actors mentioned took part in this dog.