A Short Cut Movie Review is normally less than 400 words, but in some cases may go slightly over. This is my attempt to keep writing about as many films as I see without getting bogged down with trying to find more to say. They are meant to be brief snapshots of my reaction to a movie without too much depth.
After the stylish and rather brilliant Drive, I had high hopes and anticipation
for Nicholas Winding Refn’s follow up Only
God Forgives. The same great look is there with the seedy underworld of
Bangkok replacing Los Angeles. The film is bathed in neon lights and deep reds,
but it lacks any heart.
Drive worked
because we cared about the characters. This time Refn doesn’t give us a hero.
Sure, Julian (Ryan Gosling), a drug smuggler in Thailand, has some redemption
when he prevents the murder of an innocent child, but apart from that one act I
couldn’t find anything to get behind.
