Starring: Johnny Depp, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Joe Edgerton, Jesse Plemons.
Black Mass, tells the true story of South Boston's most violent criminal, Whitey Bulger. We follow him through family tragedies and his relationship with an FBI agent.
Depp tends to play very loveable and charming characters and I don't think this film was any different. Even though he was playing a huge mobster he brought a lot of warmth to the role which made us see things from his perspective more. From his relationship with his mother to his relationship with son, it was almost impossible to hate him for all the violence he acted out. It was a great character study to look at and that was both down to the script and the acting.
Mob films have been my favourite genre ever since I watched Goodfellas in 2011. It's not been a long time but I have watched pretty much every-one out there so when comparing this modern day mob film to the classics it's nothing special. Nothing new really stood out and it had all been done before. This movie wasn't really about the mob, it felt like it was more about emotion which is a great direction to take a mob film, even if it was unintentional.
The story itself was very longed out. They tried to fit as much as they could into the 2 hour run-time which is great because it's a great story to tell but it felt like it dragged at times. Whilst the performance was captivating, it was dry at times and new things kept happening and it was hard to keep up. There was a lot of events that could've easily been left out so that others could've been delved into more. The story worked nonetheless. I walked away knowing about Bulger and his character so the film did it's job.
The cinematography was beautifully done. Masanobu Takayanagi, the cinematographer, made the quite dark film very visually light. Most mob films have most scenes in the night but in Black Mass most of the violence happened in the daytime which I think was a great idea because the red blood against the white pavements or wherever stood out so much more. It also made you think about how little he cared if he can kill in broad daylight.
Overall, Black Mass was a success but underwhelming. There were parts that could've been improved on and I think too much was happening at times but it was mostly enjoyable to watch. I really liked seeing Juno Temple in there as well as the rest of the star-studded cast. I wouldn't go into watching this expecting a Godfather but more of The Departed.
