Child 44

Lets be honest- there really isn't much being released in the next few weeks while we all wait for Age of Ultron. So I figured I'd check this movie out. It hasn't been advertised all that much. Hell, the only reason I knew about it was because I am a huge Tom Hardy fan. And once again, he gives a brilliant performance. As far as the movie itself, I kind of have mixed feelings about it.

Child 44 is based on a book written by Tom Rob Smith. It's set in the Stalin era of the Soviet Union and tells the story of Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy)- a disgraced member of the military police force who, along with his wife Raisa (Noomi Rapace) begin investigating a series of child murders. Of course, there's more to this story than it seems.

I found the first half of the movie to be extremely boring. It moved at such a slow pace that I could feel myself nodding off at times. Of course, this could also have been due to the fact that I hadn't slept much in the past few days.

The movie was also very dark. Not only in terms of the tine, but the lighting as well. For example, there was this fight scene where I couldn't tell who was who or what was going on half the time. I get what the director was trying to do but damn.

Also, whoever they hired to edit this should never work in the film industry again. The way it moved from one scene to the next (mainly in the first half) was so poorly done. Once scene in particular that stood out to me was a love scene where the camera is moving up and there I was all excited thinking I'm about to see Tom Hardy's ass in all it's glory. But then it quickly cuts away to something else. I wanted to scream, Fuck!!!! Why are they doing this to me? It made me so frustrated! I'm taking half a point off my rating just for this alone. Inexcusable.

I've talked a lot about what I didn't like, but once it got to the second half and Leo and Raisa really begin investigating and trying to find this serial killer, it became this really good, intense, on the edge of your seat thriller.

I also loved Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace's powerful performances. The two of them work so well together and have such amazing chemistry. It was interesting to see their relationship develop from the beginning of the movie to what it is at the end. In the middle of all this bleakness is a very touching love story.

Child 44 is not for everyone. Probably the only people who will see it are fans of historical thrillers or of any of the actors in here. But if you can get past the first half, it's worth checking out.

My Rating: 7/10