Junior’s Rating ** out of *****

Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, 50 Cent, Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg

How do you screw up a movie with Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino?  Well, in the case of Righteous Kill, you start with a substandard screenplay and that pretty much does the trick.  Our Oscar-winning actors are put in ridiculous situations, with implausible plot twists, and are expected to deliver lines that make them sound at best like high school thespians and at worst like Neanderthals.  Anyone who’s seen a single crime drama on television can easily spot the gaping holes in the story and the notion that a vigilante serial killer could do his work with such lack of scrutiny and relative impunity is just preposterous. There are a couple of signature DeNiro moments along with the occasional touch of brilliance by Pacino but there aren’t enough of either to warrant your money or your time.  If you need to see these guys at their best, rent the Godfather Part Two and skip Righteous Kill.