DVD & Blu-ray review: Dead Man Down

DVD & Blu-ray, Entertainment One

The English-language debut of Niels Arden Oplev (director of the original, Swedish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), this thriller can never quite decide what it wants to be: brooding, European neo-noir or mindless, Hollywood action schlockbuster.

Colin Farrell is a gangland mobster’s right-hand man who finds himself caught up with his disfigured neighbour Noomi Rapace. Both are seeking revenge in a plot that mistakes gaping holes and an initially slow pace for intelligent, edgy film-making. The morality at play is far simpler than hinted at, and builds to an obvious guns-blazing finale. A missed opportunity to do something different. Robert Epstein