It must be my starvation for action which drove me to Riders of Justice and captured me from the start.
I liked Wrath of Man, too, but Riders has a far better script, better acting and credibility which spells solid entertainment.
A joy ride through slash and burn hell, but with purpose. Just my kind of film.
Riders is a fantastic thriller, a dark, subtle comedy (of sorts) accompanied by terrific music (by Jeppe Kaas) to complement the austere Danish landscapes of horizontal lines and muted tones where the sun doesn't shine, nobody smiles, and color (save blood and Christmas sweaters) is absent.
Anders Thomas Jensen, the director/writer, presents a striking film, sure to excite even the sleeping. (Wake up, Christine!)
The star (Mads Mikkelsen), is angry, very angry, a man whose rage is palpable, perceived by an audience on edge (we know this is not going to be easy), so close to a man of steel, we are, without patience.
Markus's wife has died in a train accident which injured his teen daughter, now forced to live with her unreasonable, estranged father.
Was it an accident? New friends arrive to paint a different picture, and away we go!
The cast includes a nerdy statistician,
Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas); a comedic hacker, Lennart (Lars Brygmann), and the fellow who reminded me of Newman from Seinfeld, Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro), a tech pro and subtle humorist.
These guys look like your colleagues, everyday persons you see on the street, with whom you might mingle in a tech warehouse, certainly not the artificial breeds from GQ. Applause to casting director, Djamila Hansen.
I found only one scene which needed more editing, and that was when the "psychologist" counsels Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg). The "lineup" at the end was a bit too contrived, too.
The irony of this film is its supposed setting, Denmark, ranked by Global Peace Index as the fifth most peaceful country in the world in 2020. (Iceland was #1 and - surprise! - the U.S. doesn't show up in 21 countries listed.)
Denmark has a low rate of gun deaths, too, as detailed by GunPolicy.org. From 1998 to 2011, Denmark's rate of death by gun was fewer than two people killed for every 100,000 Danish citizens, and by comparison, the United States' rate was just over 10 gun deaths per every 100,000 citizens in 2013. (It might be about double that by now.)
Riders is a great movie for those who are immune to movie violence, like I find myself becoming.
And Carla, I think Thor will like Riders and if you liked Pulp Fiction and Fargo, you may like it, too, but you've been warned. Adult language, for certain, with English subtitles.
This is the only time I can recall when the critics at Rotten Tomatoes beat the audience (94% to 91%) and got it right.
This is the only time I can recall when the critics at Rotten Tomatoes beat the audience (94% to 91%) and got it right.
patricialesli@gmail.com
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