Has Memorable Moments But Very Unoriginal

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2014)

Directed by Brian De Palma, "The Untouchables" is a classic remake of the television series as our hero G-Man (Kevin Costner) as he tracks down his arch nemesis the notorious gangster Al Capone (Robert De Niro) and to bring his enterprise down with him during the infamous Chicago Prohibition era. Struggling to catch up or get any word among Capone's whereabouts, Ness hires a veteran cop named Jimmy Malone (Oscar winning Sean Connery). The cast also includes other big stars like Andy Garcia as a rookie cop George Stone/Giuseppe Petri and Charles Martin Smith as Oscar Wallace.
The story is pretty much everything you would expect from a movie like this. We see Ness doing everything in his power to dethrone Capone and offer him justice served cold but not very successfully. The money trail leaves them from one dead-end street to another with no trace of Capone's hideouts. But Capone's trail being followed also marked the end of his empire. If the pieces can be added up nicely, it will be evident that Capone owes the government a substantial amount of back taxes and evasion as we all know is major felony. Wallace, a certified accountant claims that tax evasion itself would be a gargantuan penalty if Capone was just charged on that alone. And as what comes with that an abundance of deaths occurred during this mob war era.
The characters richness is what makes "The Untouchables" a very riveting movie. All the characters are multilayered with the exception of the leading character, Ness, who comes off pretty wooden and seems to be more opposing to the character of Capone who's quite charismatic and the wittiness and dry comical dialogue by Connery are the ones that I enjoy watching the most. Even Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith had lots of panache and the chemistry each character had towards one another makes this movie very special. The direction by Brian De Palma was fascinating, while the score by Ennio Morricone adds the right texture to the time period this movie was set in. The props and costumes were accurate. It felt like we had traveled back to the time of the Prohibition era.
There are a lot of great scenes going on in "The Untouchables". One of the many scenes involved Capone's seminar about the benefits of teamwork as he tells his band of syndicates and it results in a man getting pulverized by a baseball bat. The focus on the blood splattering out of the man's head and all the syndicate's reactions is a scene that will linger in my mind till eternity. The other standout was the ambush located at the train station which ends with Agent Stone diving to save a runaway baby carriage while keeping his weapon at tow. This scene will send chills up everyone's spine.
Overall, this truly is one of the more engaging mobster movies of all times. It has great characters and the dialogue is remarkable and the characters truly draw onto you very nicely. Sure there's nothing original about the plot or the outcome, but the development of the characters and the technical aspects make this movie one you have to see to believe.