First Hit: This was a surprisingly good film.
Granted I went into the film thinking this film would be an updated cross between Lethal Weapon and Payback but it was more than this.
Mel Gibson plays Thomas Craven a detective in the Boston Police department who becomes a man with nothing to lose in finding out who and why his daughter Emma (played by Bojana Novakovic) was savagely killed by a shotgun blast when they were walking out the front door of his house.
His daughter had unexpectedly returned home for a visit and it is clear that she is troubled. She is also very sick. In a bout of coughing and spitting up they decide to go to the doctor. As they head out the front door she is blasted by an assassin.
Initially, everyone on the police force thinks that Thomas was the target. However, Thomas thinks different and starts out to find out who killed his daughter and why.
The story heads into intrigue with government agencies, a US Senator, a large private corporation where his daughter worked, a private security company, and an anti-nuclear armament activist group. For an action film, this film is well crafted.
The story line is strong with not a lot of obvious holes, the dialogue is good and the overall direction and scenes are, at times, shockingly strong.
Gibson is very strong and believable as a father with nothing to lose as he makes in-roads towards finding his daughter’s killers. Ray Winstone is great as a mediator of sorts; he’s the guy you call if you don’t want someone to track a story from A to B. The script is not spectacular but it is solid and the direction is very good as this film keeps the audience’s attention and anticipatory.
Overall: This is a very entertaining and well done film.