A masterpiece, but needs more than one viewing

Rating: 10/10 (14 March 2008)

The first time I watched it, I was taken aback by the brutality and seemingly over the top violence and so on. I enjoyed the suspense elements though, which are about the best 'jump out of your seat' experience on Blu-ray with lossless sound. I got lost towards the end and it ended up making me think this perhaps was overrated very badly.
I watched it again with an older person today, and they identified a lot with the Jones character. I started to as well. I was starting to think that Anton and Ed Tom were maybe the same ala Fight Club.. But after enough though, they are not. This is simply a multi-level story of insane violence and quick kills, while Jones is outside it, aged and ready to retire. Even if he does, he still has his fears and nightmares.
There's a good style lately, Departed and this. On the surface they're just a violent mess, and are treated as such. Deep down, there's enough to watch these movies many, many times. Soemtimes you need to watch a movie more than once to catch it all. Usually those are better movies, like Departed before this. On the second view, it's clear this is, like Departed, is a modern classic.