Righteous Kill

We finally have DeNiro and Pacino in a film together again (Heat was the first and only in which they appeared on screen together). Righteous Kill follows the story of two detectives who are on the trail of a killer who is whacking "bad people." Usually the killer finds someone who just got acquitted for a horrible crime because of faulty evidence but should be behind bars. We all secretly, or openly, have a deisre for justice to be done to the people who are ruining others' lives. This is a well worn idea in Hollywood especially, where all our fantasies are played out (think Boondock Saints, or The Brave One).

We all know that some people just "deserve to die." And maybe at first glance they do, but we must be very careful about are presuppositions. When we decide who lives and dies, we play God. We have to realize that. The Bible says "Vengeance is mine, says the LORD." We must trust Him to be the one that will handle justice, and handle it perfectly. We have to find solace in that. Yet it is hard when people are doing really horrible things to each other. [As I am writing this I am almost sure I have written the exact same thing in a few other blogs. Definitely one of Hollywood's favorite fantasies to play on].

Righteous Kill is a pretty straight-forward crime drama. It's got guns, good guys, bad guys, mysetry, twists and turns, clues, etc. And it has two of the master-actors on the planet. It was enjoyable. Yet, it left a lot to be desired. I guess with a cast like that I was expecting a lot more. It was predicable in many places as well. If you are really itching to see Bobby and Al together, I do highly recommend Heat. And if you are in the mood to maybe feel what it's like to be the "hand of God's judgment" (which is pretty arrogant, really) and delve into what that actually means, you may want to check out Boondock Saints or even Se7en instead.