Review: Domino

To say that Domino is one of director Brian De Palma's lesser efforts is putting it mildly. Workmanlike, pedestrian and by-the-numbers are apt if generous descriptors, but viewers can at least distract themselves from the mediocrity by concentrating on the director's trademark style which, even in the service of mediocrity, offers some satisfaction.

Shot in Denmark several years ago, Domino bears the fingerprints of the financial problems De Palma reportedly encountered. Voyeurism, with its inherent luridness and spectrum of thrills, has always been the director's stock-in-trade, so it's no surprise that De Palma should be drawn to this tale that intriguingly suggests that terrorists are a new breed of filmmakers. Unfortunately, that provocation is buried under an unnecessarily convoluted and poorly written script involving Christian (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), a Danish cop first seen being distracted by his latest bed partner, a distraction which results in him forgetting to bring his gun along when he and his partner Lars (Søren Malling) go to respond to an alleged domestic disturbance.

Once on the scene, Christian quickly realises that there's something more in play, especially when he finds a dead man with his fingers cut off as well as a cache of explosives in the apartment. By the time he goes back to warn Lars, it's too late. Lars' throat has been slit and the suspect, Ezra Tarzai (Eriq Ebouaney), has jumped out of the window and is escaping via the rooftops. The ensuing Vertigo-inspired sequence ends with Ezra being apprehended by a black ops CIA team headed up by Joe Martin (Guy Pearce), who want him to continue his pursuit of ISIS leader Salah Al Din (Mohammed Azaay) on their behalf and have imprisoned Ezra's family to ensure his compliance. Christian is also in hot pursuit of Ezra, wanting to capture the man responsible for his partner's death. Meanwhile, Al Din is about to stage another terrorist attack in a bullfighting stadium with cameras on hand to film the massacre.

The lead up to that attack heavily references De Palma's previous works and, whilst the side-by-side comparisons do not work in Domino's favour, it does demonstrate that dipping into the same bag of tricks time and time again can still thrill.

Domino

Directed by: Brian De Palma

Written by: Petter Skavlan

Starring: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Carice Van Houten, Guy Pearce, Eriq Ebouaney, Søren Malling, Nicolas Bro, Paprika Steen