"Well, justice should be harsh...Especially for those who denied it to others."Law Abiding Citizen. Plot holes, gore, and good acting galore. Well, I'm a bit generous on the acting, and overstating the plot holes a bit, but they're there. This movie will be hit and miss for a lot of people, I loved it, but I know that quite a few of the friends I saw it with didn't enjoy it that much.
As I've already mentioned, Law Abiding Citizen has a few plot holes. The biggest one is why Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx) is always first onto the scene...He's a lawyer. I know that it's needed in the context of the movie, and I didn't mind it too much, but it's fairly distracting if you stop to think about it. Both myself and the person sitting next to me commented on it more than once. Aside from that, and the slightly farfetched reasoning of Gerard Butler's character, the movie flowed very well. There are some very powerful scenes, both emotionally and physically, and the themes portrayed throughout the movie are valid. Gerard Butler is the star of this movie, in more ways than one. Aside from being the main character, he plays his role spectacularly, from seemingly deranged psychotic to concerned/loving father. Every moment that he's on screen is what makes this film so good.
Where the plot is sometimes lacking in this movie, what's shown on the screen more than makes up for it. This movie is beautiful, albeit in its own special way, but that doesn't change how good it looks. Camera movement and angles are done superbly, although the use of shaky cam does obviously prelude any and all action or explosions, taking away some of the excitement. There's a beautiful explosion in one of the closing scenes that employs some great angles and slow motion. I'm looking forward to getting this on blu-ray immensely.
The music and sound in this movie are also brilliant. The soundtrack is extremely haunting, using some very strange techniques to creep you out. The fairly standard classical score is sometimes pitch changed for a second or two which really jars you, but thinking back on it, it adds a lot to the tension of the movie. In some scenes there are some dubbing issues since what's being played and what's being heard is clearly different (at least from a musicians perspective), but it won't bother many people. Aside from that, nothing stands out, but there's nothing bad about it either. Definitely a solid effort.
While all of the above doesn't make for that great a movie, it was surprisingly good. I know I won't be seeing it again until it comes out on blu-ray and dvd, but that's only because of how the plot works. It's good for one use, but upon more viewings it pretty much sucks because you know what's going to happen. I was enjoying myself so much when I was watching this in the cinema, and bad plot be damned. This movie is amazingly fun to watch if you can overlook the plot holes (not really hard at all) and just love it for what it is.Score
Plot 6/10
Visuals 9/10
Sound 8/10
Enjoyment 8/10
Overall 31/40
Grade B
Pros
- Gerard Butler.
- Hauntingly good music and camera work
Cons
- Decent sized plot holes
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