Broken City - Stadt des Verbrechens

Nothing can match up to the disappointment that Hollywood brings their fans every now and then. This story from a wannabe Gotham City looked like a proper crime investigation movie, Russell like a politician full of complexes that compensated for everything with money and Mark like a person whose entire life is in ruins, but he’s still trying to function in this world full of corruption. A great idea, great actors, an effort to make a wannabe noir crime movie – and the result? A totally lifeless drama that kept convincing me to turn it off with each passing minute. If it weren’t for those two big actor names plus Catherine Zeta-Jones, I would have thought that I was watching some low-budget made-for-TV movie that are often used as a time filler by private stations that don’t know what else to fill the time with. I don’t like disappointment and I can’t stand the missed potential that I saw after watching the trailer. Unfortunately, it’s become apparent once again that good actors don’t necessarily raise the overall movie quality. (23.03.2014)

A pleasant detective movie with a marvelous cast. Marky Mark finds himself again and Crowe enjoys his slippery-slick mayor. I’ve been enjoying this kind of political cesspit movies recently and, even though this picture is sometimes unnecessarily drawn-out, I liked it. It’s also fun to learn revelations about the main protagonist. In fact, it’s a movie about selfishness. The picture is probably trying to get across a little lesson. And that is: If you aren’t selfish, you pay for it, and you are you pay too... 1-1=0 yes, you were right, there is no lesson here. P.S.: The music by Reznor (Atticus Ross’s gofer) is also pretty fine. Like father, like son. (12.04.2013)

It rarely happens that a trailer is much worse than the film, after all, trailer usually consist of just a few highlights that are meant to motivate viewers to go to the cinema. But here, there was something hasn't happened to me in a long time. The trailer seemed awfully boring and clichéd, but in the end, the film is not that bad. The absence of a renowned director is certainly noticeable, but it is very strong in terms of acting and not completely futile in terms of the screenplay. The twists fit well and, apart from a few details, I quite enjoyed it. Mark Wahlberg is a proper tough guy and Russel Crowe is excellent and charismatic as a speaker. Exactly what we like. I wouldn't dare to judge the technical aspect because it seemed average and not deviating from today's standards. In fact, the whole film seemed that way to me. No added value. Watch it once, shake your head, and move on. (11.08.2013)

Broken City is a film notable for the fact that even the reviews focused primarily on its dullness are alarmingly dull. Yet beneath the surface of a tendentious neo-noir whose fundamental problem is that it's too fond of its hero lies a pure genre film with some nice stylistic play and excellent construction of most scenes (the meeting with the mayor after seven years, for example, is formal bravura). The problem is the interplay, a terrible heap of hastily sketched conflicts and an attempt to comment on just about everything. On the other hand, the excuse is that originally the city itself was probably supposed to play the main role, but like I say, someone simply liked the protagonist too much. (22.07.2013)

Allen Hughes is not a bad director, but there is always something to criticize about each of his films. "From Hell" doesn't have the power that Allan Moore's comic does. "Book of Survival" definitely didn't meet the expected success. "Broken City" is not the right choice either. His films may look good at first glance, but underneath the surface, it's just not there. It's like unwrapping a chocolate bonbon only to find that the chocolate is dry and disgusting, or at least missing the sweet filling that was promised on the packaging. What makes "Broken City" worse is that it will bore you. The suspenseful thriller is occasionally slowed down to a static state and it's as if it doesn't want to move forward. Such a film looks good in the trailer, but as a whole, it is an insignificant film that doesn't leave anything with you. Maybe just the fact that next time, Wahlberg will choose something more interesting where he can show that he is truly a good actor. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2013/05/zlomene-mesto-2013-50.html (04.05.2013)