Kill the Irishman
Do you love gangster movies but have trouble identifying with the grease-ball Italian type? Now you can side with the Irish working class hero and still have your organized crime shenanigans! Great movie and the main guy, Ray Stevenson, did an awesome job pulling off such a bad ass role.
Stars: ★★★★☆
Unknown
Liam Neeson runs around Germany deciphering the fragments of his mind due to amnesia, all while battling identity issues. Not a bad movie but it wasn't really that noteworthy. Hey Hollywood, amnesia is lame.
Stars: ★★★☆☆
Full Reviews (SPOILER ALERT)
Kill the Irishman
I had never heard of Danny Greene before this movie. But now I can officially add him to my hero list. I can't believe that someone with ball as big as his was a real guy. He came from nothing and fought tooth and nail to get to the top of his cities organized crime syndicate. He took almost no shit from anyone and constantly gave back to the working class and his community. Greene fought and died for what he believed in and that always makes for a strong connection with me. So he stole some stuff, blew up a few scumbags and busted a skull or two. Sometimes it takes a criminal mindset to best criminals at their own game.
At one point he mentioned that he believed that he had descended from Celtic warriors. That might seem pretty cocky but I have to say, after watching this movie, I can believe it. He literally slapped grow men around, told the Italian mafia to kiss his ass and had a knack for charging head first after would-be assassins... even if they were shooting at him. Now that takes big brass balls in real life. He, like so many other hard cases with a heart of gold, did try to go straight. But unfortunately you can only piss on scorpions for so long until they poke you're wiener… or something like that.
This was an awesome movie with a lot of good acting. If you like mafia movies, have Irish blood running through your veins or you just want to watch a manly gangster typed movie with just enough raw violence, check this out.
Unknown
The problem with this movie was that we already saw Liam sleuthing around Europe in the movie Taken. The big difference was that he kicked a lot less ass this time around. With a poster tag line of "Take back your life" you would figure there would be more whipping of the buttocks. The plot twist was pretty easy to call which didn't help things much either. Don't get me wrong, the performances weren't crap or anything but the whole movie was just kind of average. The amnesia bit has been done to death by soap operas anyways.
The ending also leaves you feeling a bit empty. Liam finally figures out that he's a bastard, but then what? After all the chaos he and the main chick went through, they just stroll off all nonchalant? Does he go back to being a cleaner or does he decide a life of burger flipping is his true calling? Give me something here people! Usually I don't mind the open ended finale but this time it just wasn't enough.
If you catch this flick on TV and Taken isn't on, give it a go. So I suppose Unknown wasn't a bad title since this will no doubt fade into obscurity without anyone knowing.
Poster Analysis
Seeing as I'm a photographer and a graphic artist, I figured I should probably start giving my two cents about the movie posters as well. Plus I really really love checking out movie posters and trailers. I'm a sucker for quality advertising. Anyways...
Irishman's title font isn't too bad but the rest is a little too Hollywood gangster for my taste. "Oh look, an explosion and men with suits... we gonna have some Soprano styled fun tonight!" Not to mention a big caterpillar mustached face might scare people away.
Unknown's has a nice color scheme and I like the blurred background but overall it's a little too Photoshopped. The "rip" in the middle with the girls faces and a crashing car could have been presented better as well. It doesn't really fit and it doesn't stand out. The title font is OK but why make the "UN" blue? Why over remind us that he isn't known? Lastly, Liam's intense scowl and the fact that he's sporting a pistol makes you feel like he's going to rock your world in this movie. Completely false advertising.
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