Review of Black Mass (2015) by Ydnar4 — 17 Sep 2015

Black Mass is a strong film. It is great but somehow I still feel a little bit disappointed with this movie. The reason you should see this movie is because of the performances. The whole cast has something to offer in this film. Johnny Depp will certainly be gaining some attention for his portrayal of Whitey Bulger. You completely lose Johnny Depp in this role. For starters Depp looks just like Whitey Bulger and there are several points in this film that are downright terrifying to watch. I'm sure the academy will be putting this role into consideration although I'm not guaranteed Depp will nominated. It was nice to see Johnny Depp really get his mojo back and hopefully he can build momentum with this performance.

Joel Edgerton impressed me once again. I can honestly say that I have yet to see a film with this guy in where he doesn't bring his A game. Benedict Cumberbatch was great too although he is not in the film as much as you'd think.

Now the big problem with Black Mass is that it leaves a lot things out. The film just uses a scene to compile all the other rotten deeds that Bulger is doing in sort of a cheap fashion without really showing anything on camera and I think the film suffers just slightly for not being raw enough. There are a few points in the film (not very many) that feel a little flat and could have been better. That is why this movie is only good instead of great.

Overall I really enjoyed Black Mass, I'm not expecting a best picture Oscar for this movie but I recommend it to gangster movie fans and fans of Johnny Depp.