Movie Review: Black Mass (2015)

Hello All,

Another thursday night review, another new film, another review. I really don’t have too much to say for this opening part so let’s just dive right into Black Mass shall we?

Plot Summary - Black Mass follows the career of notorious South Boston Gangster James “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp) from his beginnings in the 70’s and his deal with FBI Agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton) through the 80’s and his rise to power until his fall in the 90’s.

Pros - Johnny Depp is really good in this, like I had to remind myself that it was Johnny Depp by the time it was over. The rest of the cast is really stellar two although the main focus of the story is Bulger and Connolly and how both of them operated during this time. The points on their lives that they focus on are interesting for the most part, choosing certain bits and pieces of each of their lives to show incidents that might have induced changes in their thinking and behaviour.

Cons - Right off the bat, the film is not what I expected it to be. I guess some of the blame can be given to the marketing for the film and while the film works overall, it just doesn’t really dig as deep into Whitey’s criminal doings as much as they talk about what they’ve done. While they do highlight key moments they sort of gloss over the bigger picture of his influence. There’s also way too many side characters and while they were trying to show certain elements of the story from the perspective of those who were there, you’ll be forgetting names soon enough, especially since they jump between people without much notice.

Final Score - 8/10

I was originally going to give this a 7, but I bumped it up mostly because I decided that me not knowing what the film was going to be like is no fault on the part of the filmmakers. I’d say adjust your expectations and be prepared for more of a character study of the alliance between two powerful people rather than a goodfellas type of experience.

So even though I originally didn’t want to see it, the original Maze Runner review has become popular enough that I feel the need to follow it up by seeing the sequel. I will be doing it Saturday.

Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.