Today’s quick review: Hangman. Detective Ray Archer (Al Pacino) comes out of retirement when his partner Will Ruiney (Karl Urban) discovers their badge numbers carved into the scene of a grisly murder. With the help of investigative journalist Christi Davies (Brittany Snow), the detectives try to figure out the clues left by the killer. But when another body with the same M.O. shows up a day later, the hunt for the killer becomes a race against time.
Hangman is a crime thriller about a hangman-themed serial killer. Al Pacino and Karl Urban star as a pair of detectives with a personal connection to the case—if only they can figure out what it is. Hangman is a by-the-book mystery thriller with tight pacing, an interesting motif, and a good cast. The perplexing murders and tight deadline make for an engaging plot, while the background details about the lead characters flesh out the story nicely.
However, Hangman struggles with its ending. The exotic murders work fine in the moment, but they leave the movie with an intractable tangle of clues to make sense of at the end. Hangman tries its best to sort everything out, but it ends up relying on some heavy-handed exposition to make it work. The result is an underwhelming ending and a villain who’s revealed too late in the game to really matter.
Hangman is a competent thriller that misses the forest for the trees. How much you get out of it will depend on what you are looking for. Those who are just looking for something dark and gripping will find that it fits the bill nicely, even if it falls apart towards the end. Those looking for a mystery with an intelligent plot and a rewarding payoff will find it to be a letdown. For a better thriller in the same vein, try Se7en or The Bone Collector.
5.2 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for a tightly paced story hurt by a weak ending.