Robert De Niro and Al Pacino are two very talented actors who have made many good movies. Both of them have also made some not so good movies, especially in the last few years. I thought that the trailers made Righteous Kill, a movie starring both men, look interesting. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be as good as I had hoped it would be.

Turk and Rooster had been friends and partners on the force for years. Neither one of them wanted to retire and they were both very upset when suspects they knew were guilty got off on some technicality. Some of those suspects started to turn up dead with little poems justifying the killings found with the bodies. Turk and Rooster were investigating, though they didn't seem as determined to get justice for the victims. They ended up working with Simon Perez and Ted Riley, two other detectives, on the investigation. The evidence seemed to suggest that a cop was responsible.

I ended up being disappointed with the plot of Righteous Kill overall. Some aspects of the movie didn't seem to fit in with the advertising or things I have read about the movie. I read a short summary online after seeing the movie and it had nothing to do with the plot of the movie. The movie probably would have been more interesting and entertaining if the plot had actually matched that summary. The majority of the plot was focused on the investigation into the killings. That could have made for a better movie if the plot had been handled differently. Some things connected to a drug dealer called Spider were also tossed in. Those things just didn't seem to fit as well in my opinion. It was almost like those bits were added in just to make the running time longer.

I thought that the plot for Righteous Kill was weak and predictable. The movie was promoted like it was a mystery thriller, which it just wasn't. The way the story was presented eliminated any mystery or suspense. There was an attempt to throw in a surprising twist late in the movie that wasn't surprising at all. If the story had been presented in a different way, and if certain things weren't so glaringly obvious, then the movie would have been much better and might have managed to be at least somewhat suspenseful. I was very disappointed with the way the story was handled and that the suspense was eliminated.

I thought that there were some things that happened that didn't really make much sense with what was going on and how certain things had been established previously. It was set up like the killer was trying to set right what the justice system got wrong by going after criminals that had gotten off. The killer thought that they were doing what was right. Then, late in the movie, the killer went and did something that contradicted that and turned him/her into just a regular criminal that got a thrill from committing crimes. I'm not saying that what the killer had been doing up to that point was right, but it didn't fit in with how the character had been established up to that point. With what was going on at that point in the movie, there was no reason for the killer to have done the one thing.

I thought there were a few other plot holes as well. It seemed like some of the cops just ignored certain things. At one point, something was reported to Lieutenant Hingis and he really had no reaction and didn't even say he would send someone out to take a report and gather evidence. With what had been reported, something should have been done, and some other cops should have been informed of the accusation, which they weren't. That did make me wonder if rewrites had been done after those certain scenes had been filmed and then noone bothered to fix those issues.

There was violence in several scenes throughout Righteous Kill. Many dead people were shown and the bodies weren't in the best condition. Some of those images might upset some viewers. Several of the killings were shown when they happened. They weren't as violent or graphic as similar scenes in other movies, but they could still bother some viewers. People who don't like violence in movies should avoid this one. Most of the characters did a lot of swearing, including many uses of the word that rhymes with luck. Anyone that is offended by that type of language will probably want to avoid this movie. The violence and language caused the movie to be rated R. This is not a movie that children of any age should see.

It was established very early in Righteous Kill that Turk was involved with Karen. She was a crime scene investigator on the force who always just happened to be the one at all the murder scenes. She liked rough sex and Turk went to some extremes, even staging a fake attack, to meet her needs in that area. I really could have done without seeing that. There was just something wrong about De Niro in that type of scene with a woman young enough to be his daughter. Thankfully not much was shown, though Turk was without his shirt once or twice.

Turk and Rooster had been partners and friends for many years. The two had strong feelings about doing their job. Both of them were disgusted when some criminals managed to get off for whatever reason. There wasn't much else shared about them throughout the movie. Robert De Niro and Al Pacino were fine in the parts, but they weren't able to save the bad plot. I also think that De Niro and Pacino were a bit old for the parts. The two of them did share many scenes together. They were believable as friends and co-workers who had known each other for years.

None of the other characters were developed as much. Simon Perez and Ted Riley were two other cops who ended up working with Turk and Rooster on the investigation. Perez and Riley were in charge of one of the murder cases when it was discovered that there was a connection to the other case. They, especially Perez, didn't like Turk and made no secret about it. John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg were fine but nothing special in the parts. Lieutenant Hingis was Turk and Rooster's boss. Hingis was only around in a few scenes, so Brian Dennehy didn't have much of anything to do.

I didn't think that Karen added anything useful to the movie. She was really just eye candy even though she didn't show a lot of skin. Her character had no development beyond the fact that she liked to have rough sex and she had a reputation for having sex with several men on the force. She was basically depicted as a nymphomaniac. Carla Gugino was fine though she really didn't have much to do. 50 Cent, listed as Curtis Jackson in the credits, wasn't anything special as Spider and I really didn't think the character was needed. The few other characters who turned up were just minor characters who didn't add anything to what was going on.

Main Cast

Robert De Niro - Turk
Brian Dennehy - Lieutenant Hingis
Carla Gugino - Karen
Curtis Jackson - Spider
John Leguizamo - Simon Perez
Al Pacino - Rooster
Donnie Wahlberg - Ted Riley

Jon Avnet - Director

Righteous Kill wasn't anywhere as good as I had hoped it would be. De Niro and Pacino couldn't save the weak plot or make up for the fact that the presentation ruined any mystery or suspense. I was also disappointed with 88 Minutes, another movie that Avnet directed and Pacino starred in.

This is a movie I would have rated two and a half stars if I had the option. Since I don't, I decided to round up to three because of De Niro and Pacino.

Recommended: No