El asesino del ritual

I watched this movie because Freeman was in it & stuck through to the end hoping that it would be good - but it was a complete waste of time. Script, dialogue, acting and pretty much everything was just so bad! Nothing made sense & there was no flow to the movie with the jump from one scene to the other being totally confusing. Sorry I've never heard or seen the main actor & after watching the movie all the way through I know why - he was just terrible! The ending was so ridiculous that we all burst out laughing. I suggest that you give this movie a miss and spend your time watching something else.

I was hoping for another Se7en like movie, my favorite genre, but man was I wrong... What has come over these three actors to make this crap? Cole Hauser, Morgan Freeman and Peter Stormare? Are they helping out the director or something? Did they enter this out of pity?

7 minutes in and I was thinking "oh boy, this is going to be bad"... It's the vibe it sends from the beginning. The first actors were so bad, but so bad (bedroom scene) I got irritated from the start.

Awful color grading, dull lighting, terrible pace and really bad acting from all of the cast. This director was able to turn good actors into something cringe to watch.

I hate being mean, but this doesn't deserve any better. I don't know if I'll be watching the whole movie, unless I'm multi-tasking. Like I'm doing now.

In the past serial killer - thriller movies there has always been some sort of tension or high drama to keep the movie flowing and interesting. Not in this one. Morgan mostly has bit parts here and there and is basically guest starring in this role for hype only.

His history of good performances is used to bolster this film but there just isn't enough action in this to carry much water. A few chase scenes and that's about it.

A decent story and good opening, but fizzles out rather quickly and all the actors are just going through the motions. Predictable and straightforward and not much really to write about. Could have been a lot worse, but held my interest for a while. No twists, no turns, just a basic a-b-c cop vs killer movie. 3/10, no more than that.

Morgan Freeman has made millions of dollars over the course of his acting career. When you have this much money and clout in Hollywood you can pick and choose projects dear to your heart. Is the man bankrupt now or does he have a horrible agent or maybe he owes a "favor" to the Italian mafia? Why would he involve himself in this shamefully bad movie?

3 storylines are introduced at the same time. An African witch doctor is on the loose in some Italian city while being chased by Inspector Lavazza. In America, an African studies college professor Mackles (Morgan Freeman) challenges a student to find an absurd social theory so they can discuss in the next class. An unstable detective Boyd (Cole Hauser) executes a pedophile in some hotel room.

All 3 will be connected to the African witch doctor Randoku who is super human that sells his ritual powers to the rich and powerful. This witch doctor is commissioned by some rich dude to gain power so let the mutilations begin!

The plot is not at all intriguing as many variations of it has been done for decades. The only difference is an A-list Hollywood star willing to work in this B movie. Cole Hauser is not a leading man he can barely read lines and work with any emotion without being awkward to watch. There was one scene towards the end when he hugs a woman doctor multiple times for no reason and then gives her a deep sniff that reminded me of a certain US president.

The list of rhetorical questions is long and this is a reminder that if you choose to watch this don't ask any. I really don't know why Morgan Freeman chose to work in this role. If he is hard up for money then start a GFM page and save people the hours lost watching this soul crushing nonsense.

Wow, where to start?

This is bad.

1. Writing-The dialogue is stilted, monotonic, and only serves the purpose to provide exposition to the user. Very few of the writing seems natural or what two people in a conversation would say. In many scenes, it consists of two sentences and then move on to next scene.

2. Editing-The movie jumps from scene to scene without the cohesion between them. They are at a crime scene, at a bar, in Italy, at a university, in New Orleans etc , without explaining how or why they got there. The way the Cole Hauser's character and Morgan Freeman meet is not really explained, just thrown together.

3. Acting-Outside of Freeman, no one seems to have any emotions or facial expressions that matches the scene. Everyone has this 'serious' look regardless of the context.

4. Ending-Seems tacked on. Feels like they were running out of money and said, 'let's finish the finale in next two days'. It was rushed, again no cohesion with the final scene being so illogical or stupid that you want to throw something at the TV.

In short, this is a hard pass.