Domino (2019)

First, the good news, This film stars not one but two Game of Thrones alumni, King Slayer Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and the Red Queen, Carice van Houten. It’s great seeing the two of them back again on the same screen. I don’t think they ever shared any scenes in Game of Thrones. It also marks the return of one of my personal favourite ace director Brian De Palma who is best known for such classics as The Untouchables, Scarface, Carrie, Mission Impossible (1996), Body Double etc. Now, the bad news .... this isn't very good.

The plot revolves around a Copenhagen police officer trying to solve a terrorist threat which resulted in his partner's death. There's some CIA involvement thrown in, and Islamist fundamentalists portrayed as the villain. Sounds like the right ingredients for a thriller. Unfortunately the way the plot unfolds and the characters are made to behave, it all seems very unrehearsed. This may not necessarily be a bad thing, as initially the rawness and awkwardness of various situations felt more authentic than most movies. However, as the story progressed, and moved towards its climatic ending, the unusual behaviour and choice of action of the characters just seemed to be more plot device than realistic. What could have ended in with a bang at the end, simply fell apart and left no impact at all, probably leaving audiences scratching their heads a bit.

It felt a bit nostalgic to experience Brian De Palma's touch and directorial style present here with the exaggerated close ups, odd camera angles, trademark long stretches of slow build up without any dialogue for the more tense scenes. These often looked great and served its purpose of building up the anxiety and suspense as to what to expect next. Too bad the outcome turned out pretty lame. The accompanying music also could have been better as it sounded pretty unimpressive. Well I guess at the age of 79, Mr De Palma probably doesn’t need to prove anything anymore and probably only indulge in a movie or two once in awhile to amuse himself and get a bit of pocket money. I am grateful for the opportunity to sample his style again and the feel of nostalgia watching this but somehow it seems a bit out of place. Perhaps getting his early works remastered and rereleased would be more satisfying for his fans.