DOMINO: The Same Old Sound And Fury

DOMINO (Blu-ray)

2005 / 128 min

From Warner Bros.

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Bounty Hunter😼

Back in the 1980s, I was briefly into hair metal like WASP, thinking they were the coolest band on the planet. As I grew older, my love of heavy metal never really changed, but I eventually concluded that WASP’s dangerous appearance, over-the-top performances and shock-rock lyrics was all surface gloss that made them seem like a better band than they ever really were.

Similarly, I first watched 2005’s Domino in a theater, where I was bombarded by relentless sound & fury, style-to-burn, an all-star cast, supercool characters and (of course) enough hyperkinetic kaboom for three movies. It certainly wasn’t the only one to emphasize style over story, nor was it director Tony Scott’s lone foray into chest-pounding excess (he was Michael Bay before anyone had ever even heard of Michael Bay). Since I thought this kind of stuff was great, Domino earned my enthusiastic stamp of approval.

But times change and so do most people. I’m older & wiser now (though I wouldn’t put that last one to a vote), so while I still love a great action thriller - even dumb ones - I’ve grown less enamored with those that play like two-hour music videos. Domino’s dizzying camerawork, caffeine-jitters editing and sinus-clearing score mask its overall emptiness. Even periodic attempts at symbolism are mostly superfluous and shallow, not unlike the “serious” phase of WASP’s career, though the songs were basically the same.

"That wasn't me."

Kiera Knightly plays the title character, a real life model-turned-bounty hunter and the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey. She hooks up with mentor Ed Moseby (Mickey Rourke) and his team to track down lowlifes on the instructions of bondsman Claremont Williams (Delroy Lindo). That’s about the extent that the film is “based on a true story.” The rest is a convoluted plot created to bridge various action sequences, all of which are loud, violent exercises in visual bombast. The protagonists, including Domino herself, are all amalgams of antiheroes we’ve seen in plenty of other action flicks, meaning they look cool, dress cool and keep cool under barrages of gunfire.

I’m making it sound like the movie hasn’t aged well, when in fact it’s me who has done all the aging. Domino is the same brash, fast-paced, intellectually-undemanding batch of action eye candy it’s always been and certainly indicative of Tony Scott in his prime. I guess two hours of visual & sonic fireworks with no substance behind it just doesn’t rock me like it used to. Kind of like WASP.

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray originally released in 2009.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - I Am a Bounty Hunter: Domino Harvey’s Life is a decent 20 minute documentary, featuring interviews with the real thing; Bounty Hunting on Acid: Tony Scott’s Visual Style is accurately named.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Tony Scott and screenwriter Richard Kelly.

ALTERNATE AUDIO TRACK - Sort of like a commentary track, this features director Tony Scott, screenwriter Richard Kelly, exec producer Zach Schiff-Abrams and actor/musician Tom Waits (not sure why he’s included…he’s only in the damn thing for a couple of minutes).

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