Syed Ali

Honestly not the worst film ever made. Bit of action, bit of romance, some comedy. It’s a throwaway film that you wouldn’t implore someone else to watch for fear of missing something out. The plot isn’t anything new- man with principle finds out who’s responsible for evil in this world and finds a way to end their reign of terror whilst simultaneously repairing a dysfunctional heterosexual relationship. I’d say this film is average but easy to watch, doesn’t require your attention and may even make you smile with its low brow humour.

It felt like a parody of a Scorsese film more than anything else. That’s the initial feeling I got. The acting is superb which is no surprise given the casting. The writing was very good. However, it felt like the actors were going through the motions, like they’d done this many times before. Hence the movie doesn’t feel fresh. Had younger faces played the characters it may have been easier to watch since the cgi was looked slightly better than a Snapchat filter. One would be incline to believe it’s easier to age a person with makeup than de-age a person with a computer. The story is serviceable at best. It was just a okay-ish canvas for De Niro and Co. to flex their master-crafted acting chops. There are some great moments. But the story isn’t anything that’ll stay with you. Unlike a lot of Scorsese films the re-watch-ability of the film isn’t that high. If you watch this film you might think you’ve wasted the best part of 3 hours. Alternatively you might fall in love with the film because regardless of the story the cinematography and acting got you off. There’s something to be said for film being a piece art, of course beautiful scenes and dialogue stay with us. Most would argue a film is there to entertain the audience, to make us laugh or cry or just to think. To those people the emotion that the film emits is the lasting thumbprint that stay in minds. The Irishman is definitely not the latter. This not a must see film. Don’t watch thinking you will miss out on pop culture references for decades to come like Goodfellas.