In New York City, a crime lord's right-hand man is seduced by a woman seeking retribution.
The film is the English language debut of Niels Arden Oplev, who previously directed the original version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. That was good, and worth revisiting; this is best forgotten.
Needless to say, the whole thing builds towards a big shoot-out, but none of the action is executed with any verve or style.
You are left feeling sorry for the actors who do their best.
Farrell, stubbled and saturnine, gamely holds the centre, but it's ponderous stuff, spiked with nasty flashes of torture of a kind that seem almost obligatory nowadays in middling crime dramas.
Misfire.
A pleasingly intricate double (or is it triple?) revenge plot anchored by excellent acting, with a terrific burst of action at the climax.
Director Niels Arden Orpev was in charge of the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, starring Rapace, but fails to create a revenge thriller with anything like the same focus.
Simultaneously labyrinthine and simplistic, it's unconvincing in its sense of place and implausible in the development of its storyline.
A surprisingly disappointing revenge drama, Dead Man Down feels like two different films struggling against each other. One a brooding Euro thriller, the other a clunky Hollywood actioner. Neither is particularly great.
General release. Check local listings for show times.