Slow paced crime/thriller but highly amusing and engaging

Rating: 8/10 (27 April 2013)

The Coen brothers are just good at making these slow paced crime/thriller films. They sure proved it with the movie "Fargo" and they proved it again in this one. I just really enjoy the Coen brothers distinct trademarks and elements they put into their films and I enjoyed this one for it as well. In a way watching this film sort of reminded me of the film Chan-wook Park film "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance". Not all that much when it comes to the story but the direction and vibe of it while just about entirely having it's own thing going. Maybe it's the cat and mouse aspect of this film. The Coen brothers trademark of adding slightly odd or even awkward characters in their film works this time around as well. And their choice of casting is fantastic. Especially Javier Bardem who puts on his performance of a lifetime and will probably be known for this role for a very long time. He is basically the show stealer in this film and despite the scary nature of his character I was anxious to see what his character would do next. Javier plays this hit-man that goes around killing people with a air gun to track down where the money went from a drug cartel and goes about his business in a very intimidating and menacing manner. While having some messed up sets of principles. In fact he sort of reminded me of the villain Two-Face from the Batman franchise, but that is mainly do to the coin scenes in this film. And because he is the most unrealistic character in this film when it comes to his killing spree while not putting hardly any effort to cover up his tracks. The Coen brothers trademark of adding a bit of dark, uncomfortable or awkward humor is still present in this film. Overall this is another great installment from the Coen brothers and film lovers should most definitely check this one out. The ending however is abrupt, in fact it doesn't seem to really have a ending and seemed to wrap it up after the climax a bit too quickly but that is only a small gripe. And I don't like it when the guy that has a conscious and tries to do the right thing ends up getting screwed over in a film but that maybe to add to the realism.
8.6/10