Letras da Morte

In this cliched serial killer thriller from Lionsgate, Millennium, and Saban Films, and director Johnny Martin, homicide detective Ruiney (Karl Urban) is ordered to escort writer Christi (Brittany Snow) through his latest case so that she can write a book on it. It just so happens that the next case to land on his desk turns out to be a victim of a serial killer nicknamed the Hangman, since he both leaves his victims hanging, and leaves a hangman word puzzle near each crime scene. To solve this case, Ruiney has to enlist the aid of his retired ex-partner Archer (Al Pacino) who may end up having a personal connection to the culprit.

This barely-released police thriller made some headlines when it received a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes on its initial release. That score has gone up to 6% (out of 100), but the movie really isn't that awful. It's not good, either, but I've seen worse. The faults here lie mainly with the tired serial killer plot tropes, and some abysmal editing during the film's finale that makes things a little confused and laughable. Brittany Snow does a decent job as the reporter with literal scars from the past, while Karl Urban looks puffy and constipated. I mainly watched this for Pacino, whose choice in films has been really awful for the past decade or more, with a few notable exceptions. This one seems like another check-casher, and he puts forth just enough effort to skate by.

The deal here is expectations. Al Pacino playing a crusty cop practically being forced out of retirement by a serial killer as well as his old fellow officer with a connection to the officer's murdered wife. This could be a taught thriller. Well, forget about taut and lower the thrills. Hollywood mediocrity and bombast has spit out another wannabe "7" that goes south. The central thread of the crimes is the use of the hangman game by a daily kill. Don't ask how the perp can possibly string his murders together with intricate staging in such a compact time frame. This fact is suppose to be horrendously creepy and sinister one is to suppose? It comes off quite silly. Because the cops can't keep our attention even with Pacino the viewer gets the device of a young journalist who is signed-off to do a story about their dedicated under-appreciated jobs. Conveniently this reporter gets in just in time for The Hangman. Another layer of Hollywood that doesn't gel with a real crime story. So, the movie feels absolutely contrived and fake. Pacino is a waste as his laid back style doesn't add the element it's going for. The co-lead, Detective Ruiney as played by Karl Urban, barely registers even in comparison to Pacino's pedestrian Detective Archer. And as for the reporter Davies played by Brittany Snow it's so thrown in to the stew it comes off as pandering pure and simple. Hangman dashed all expectations for a return to some form for Pacino as it is a lame story with blah performances. Maybe because I'm stubborn I watched it to the end because I can't think of any other excuse?

Great actors, great idea, but could have been executed better. Not sure if it's the writing, or the directing, but it could have been better. I was able to watch the entire movie, so it'a still worth a viewing. Temper your expectations, and you will enjoy this one.

No need to get too long with it, the movie is just bad.

A horribly pretentious story that is full of holes and just doesn't work, pair that up with terrible acting from good actors, just a disappointing mess.

Just give it a miss.

I have, unfortunately, and there's nothing there: no script, photography, acting of any kind, production value... A void you can barely watch, if you can at all. (I'm thinking about making a list with REAL 0 to 5 movies, just for fun)

Before giving a 0 to 5, people should consider the above. Afterwards, they go into liking it or not.

For me, in this case, "Hangman" lacks a little care for the script - it could've been so much better. The rest of technical aspects for me is OK, so I'll start with a 4.

Then we have Al Pacino, Karl Urban and some supporting actors that did a good job - but I was kind of frustrated, so 2.

There you are: my rating is 6.