Thriller Analysis: Righteous Kill by Shiraz Zafar

Righteous kill is a 2008 crime thriller film directed by Jon Avnet. The reason I choose this film was that I am a big fan of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, and when I found out they starred in a film together I new it would be great. Another reason why I chose this film was that the methods of cinematography used indicated that De Niro was the suspect, yet in the end it was Pacino who was the manipulative suspect. This was a good plot as it kept the audience engaged.

Synopsis
The main characters are Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. De Niro's character is a hothead nicknamed "Turk" while Pacino is his cooler partner "Rooster." After 30 years of being partners in a ‘pressure cooker environment’ of the NYPD. The two detectives are ready for retirement. But before they were able to, they are called in to an investigation of the murder of a notorious pimp, which appears to link to a case they solved years before. Like the original murder, the victim is a suspected criminal whose body is found along with a four line poem explaining the killing. When additional crimes take place, it becomes clear the detectives are looking for a serial killer. One who targets criminals that have fallen through the cracks of the judicial system. His mission is to do what the cops can't do on their own take the culprits off the streets for good. The similarities between the recent killings and their earlier case raise a nagging question: Did they put the wrong man behind bars?

Characters
From the first scene we find out that the main characters are Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. The opening scene is of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino shooting targets with their pistols and machine guns while cracking jokes together. This opening scene helps us establish what the main characters are like. They are tough guys, real action men who are seen to be fearless. De Niro is seen to be the hot headed partner who has a short temper and is not afraid to release it on anyone. Deep down he is a true friend and shows that to his partner as he only seems to feel comfort by talking man to man with him. But on the exterior he is a hard nut. Pacino on the other hand is his cooler partner who is calm and relaxed most of the time. He is seen to us as a more mature person who always has the right answer to everything. The audience can identify these characteristics by how these characters act and present themselves. A scene to show De Niro’s character is when the character Spider is suspicious of a set up by the detectives by setting up Spiders lawyer to go into his office discussing drugs. Spider is suspicious of his lawyer’s actions and finds a wire. Spider starts to get aggressive and De Niro and Pacino rush in before the situation gets worse. They are too late as the shoot out begins. Spider’s man gets killed and the lawyer is also shot. De Niro handcuffs Spider and beats him to the ground until he is stopped by Pacino. This shows the level of anger that De Niro has and only stops once his partner tells him to. This shows the audience of the bond they have together. De Niro’s everyman qualities are shown by him being a hot head and at times not being able to take a joke. The one weakness I did spot was that De Niro hated the fact of not finding the serial killer at first and this made him week and affected his male pride.

Narratives
The first and most obvious enigma which was created was the searching of the serial killer. Regardless of many attempts of finding the right killer they are still completely in the dark of who the real killer is. Not many clues are given to the audience, but only ideas where given to us to work out who the killer was. This leads us to the question of who is the real killer. Only at the end was the real killer revealed. Not many enigmas are answered during the narrative, as the whole point of the film was to leave the audience in suspense until the end of the film. Suspense is created through the shots taken as in most scenes when the killings are happening, the killer is never shown. Parts of their bodies are shown such as their hands when they are writing the poems or leaving the poems on the corpses. This leaves the audience in suspense and anxious to find out whom the killer is, leading the audience in to watch more.

Cinematic
There were several close up showing the facial expressions of the detectives faces. The close up of De Niro’s face showed the strength and determination of him whilst looking into the eye of Spider. The close up of Pacino’s face created enigmas as the other detectives questions De Niro and other detectives as being a potential killers. This shot made the audience think why Pacino had this expression on his face as the whole way through the film he was made out to be one of the good guys. This created drama.

Themes
The main theme that was recognised in this thriller was ‘corrupt authority’. Pacino was the righteous killer and made it out to look like De Niro did all the killings. Pacino was manipulative and cowardly but putting the blame on his partner and friend he knew for 30 years. Another theme noticeable in this thriller was ‘Investigation’. The hero (De Niro) must uncover who the real serial killer is to establish the truth behind this. But was difficult as he didn’t know he would be stabbed in the back by his partner and friend.