Veteran NYPD detectives Turk and Rooster had been working on a case of a serial killer who was executing criminals who escaped the correct justice for crimes they committed. Everything may not be as it seems though . . .
⭐️⭐️⭐️
A little bit of a background on my history of watching Righteous Kill, back in 2008 I saw it at the cinema twice not too far apart. I'm guessing that showed that I was either loving the film or a big fan of De Niro and Pacino being on screen together. Even though at that point I had not seen anywhere near enough of their films, but I think we can forgive my 20/21 year old self.
In terms of plot it tries its very best to throw in a big twist at the end but I guess it really isn't that big of a shock when the actual reveal comes. Younger detectives Simon Perez and Ted Riley are also on the case and the number one suspect to them becomes Turk. Everything we see on screen fits that it being Turk would fit nicely with his angry attitude when someone gets off with an awful crime. Then we have Karen Corelli thrown in who is seeing Turk but had history with Perez. My guess is that was just to try and pad out some of the story.
It doesn't really have that much more to it, trying to show that the two men have been through a lot and everything comes down to something they did that was quite frankly against anything anyone in the police should ever do when it comes to evidence. How that one decision from years before changed everything. But the character development was overly great which was a shame given they had Pacino and De Niro as it could have then given the whole film a better edge to it.
I would say the film is very average, but I still enjoy watching it. Therefore I can accept that people will not really be a huge fan of the film and overall be left disappointed given Pacino and De Niro are on another level when it comes to their acting and filmography. John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg offer good support, it might have actually been better to have more of their characters in. I also see this as Wahlberg being Danny Reagan from Blue Bloods (one of my favourite shows) given the same role as NYPD detective. 50 Cent as Spider actually gives off a good vibe as the club owner, always interesting when a rapper steps across into a film, well I think so anyway.
I have decided that I can firmly add this as one of my guilty pleasures and I am more than happy with that. Surely the point of films is to entertain and if you enjoy a film you will watch it a few times? As long as you don't expect this to be the best from the legendary pair and just enjoy them on screen together I am sure it will still be a very good experience.