Black Mass

I was very underwhelmed by Black Mass. The cast is humungous and filled with talent. The trailers were great and I was really curious to see Johnny Depp's big return to form. Unfortunately, Black Mass did not live up to my expectations. It is definitely a well made movie, but it wasn't as interesting or as entertaining as I wanted it to be.

The acting is the highlight of this film. Every single performance is superb. Benedict Cumberbatch, Peter Sarsgaard, Kevin Bacon, Adam Scott and Joel Edgerton were all fantastic. Cumberbatch put on an accent that actually worked quite well, and Edgerton gave another outstanding performance. However, the obvious highlight here is Johnny Depp's mesmerizing performance. He gives one of his all-time best performances here.

The cinematography, costumes and makeup were also excellent. They really helped with the atmosphere of the film. Scott Cooper's direction was quite good, with some very nice shots. The writing was fine; nothing too special but serviceable.

My main problem with Black Mass was the pacing. Around the one-hour mark, I found myself getting bored and sleepy. Not much was going on in the story at that time, and the film sort of stopped for a bit. Not much happens in the story either. This made some scenes feel unimportant and useless. The two-hour runtime felt much longer than it actually was.

Overall, though filled with many impressive feats, Black Mass is slow and fairly underwhelming. Johnny Depp's performance alone makes the film worth seeing though. Rent it.