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By Adrian Pascua
By Adrian Pascua
Putting two of the greatest actors ever together onscreen is a risky proposition.
Fortunately, Robert De Niro and Al Pacino’s performances as two veteran police detectives of the New York City police department were nothing short of stellar.
The problem was that “Righteous Kill” was not worthy of actors of their caliber.
De Niro and Pacino take on the roles of detectives Turk (De Niro) and Rooster (Pacino) whose job’s are to search for a serial killer who only kills criminals with violent criminal records.
The killer starts with a skateboarding pimp and gun-smuggling junkie, moving on to even more violent crimes such as rapists, child molesters and ultimately murderers; and a local drug dealer named Spider is at the top of the killer’s hit list.
The killer leaves behind poems that describe the crimes that each victim was guilty of.
Tension keeps building into a powder keg-like situation, until someone finally decides to set it off.
All the detectives involved with the investigation come to one single theory: the killer’s a cop.
Turk is a cop with a strong sense of justice and law, who doesn’t take anything from anyone. As hot headed as he might be, he still mostly plays by the book.
On the other hand, Rooster likes to play it cool; he can defuse any tense situation, as Turk has a habit of always creating tense situations.
Rooster is brilliant to a fault, with the ability to think his way out of any situation.
De Niro and Pacino’s co-stars Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and “Sin City’s” Carla Gugino could barely match up to the two superstars.
50 Cent plays the part of Spider, who runs a shady underground club in Harlem.
He seems to always be at odds with Turk and Rooster, but selling drugs will always put you at odds with any police officer.
As Turk and Rooster continue to chase the serial killer, they stumble upon the fact that Spider is the serial killer’s last objective.
Gugino plays the part of Karen Corelli, a sultry forensics expert who is also De Niro’s love interest and who isn’t afraid to play rough.
Corelli uses her expertise in forensics to help Turk and Rooster unearth the identity of the serial killer.
The plot starts out slow, building the suspense and characters as the film goes on, but when it hits the climax it is so predictable that you know exactly what is coming next.
The story was well-developed, but should have been written for two other actors – preferably two who didn’t have a legacy to live up to.
The violence and adult content give this movie a well deserved R rating.
“Righteous Kill” was disappointing and could have done so much better.
It will probably leave you with a feeling of emptiness and a sense that there is no justice left in this world.