2. Chiwetel Effojor Puts In Another Excellent Performance
Chiwetel Ejiofor is clearly one of the best actors working at the moment. From emotionally heavy films like Redbelt and 12 Years a Slave to more blockbuster fare such as 2012 or The Martian, Ejiofor is an obviously talented, likeable presence. So, watching him play such a despicable bad guy is a real joy. His character, Michael Atwood, is more than willing to kill, maim and initimidate and this pushes him slightly past the point of anti-hero and into villain territory. Sure, he has his reasons for being like this namely the Russian mob 'looking after' his son, but nonetheless Ejiofor plays the part with unrelenting menace. Despite his few words, there is an unrelenting violence in Atwood's eyes and Ejiofor does more with this than most actors do with pages of dialogue. It is testament to the man's talent then that he can play such a part of a battle scarred, scary mercenary and still have us root for him. Despite his nonchalant attitude to cop-killing, we are still behind Atwood's want for his son, and his revenge.