Rating of
3/4
Depp was great, but the movie was blah
Matthew Brady - wrote on 10/04/15
Never spill the family secret.
The story is about Whitey Bulger, brother of a state senator and the most infamous criminal in South Boston. Childhood friend John Connolly would become a leading figure in Boston's FBI office while Bulger become a figurehead in the Irish mob. When they connected, Connolly convinced Bulger to help take down the Italian mafia - but as things spiral out of control, Bulger finds himself as part of the FBI's Most Wanted.
Ever since the first teaser trailer for Black Mass came out, I knew for a fact that Johnny Depp was back to his old roots and finally playing a character that wasn't Jack Sparrow. It looked gritty, sharp, brutal and totally refreshing to see Depp in this type of role. I was hyped as sh*t to see this movie and I couldn't wait to watch Johnny Depp's performance as Whitey Bulger.
After finally seeing the movie I can say that Black Mass as a film was alright, but Johnny Depp's performance in this movie was freaking fantastic and he stole the whole show.
The positives: This has to be Johnny Depp's best performance in years. I can best describe he's performance as darkly comical, frighting and really uncomfortable at times. That's the power and the weight Depp brought to this performance and he absolutely pulled it off. I'm so happy to see Johnny Depp giving a good performance that wasn't anything like Transcendence or The Lone Ranger.
The cinematography in this movie was beautifully shot and the camera work used in the film was just stunning. Benedict Cumberbatch, Joel Edgerton and Kevin Bacon gave a great performance in the movie.
Now for the problems: The movie itself felt pretty empty and very hollow to me. There wasn't anything to latch on to since the movie doesn't have a protagonist or a character that you can relate to. Everyone is a villain.
The dialogue in the movie wasn't that interesting and it was very hard for me to latch on. These a lot of police investigation in this movie that was actually documented and to me it wasn't very interesting and I wish that the movie focused a little more on Depp's character.
Overall Black Mass has amazing cinematography, a great performance from Depp and good directing. But it isn't something that I'll be watching again anytime soon, because I can't see myself watching this movie again.
