3. It's Too Fetishistic
At some level, Only God Forgives feels like a film for voyeuristic perverts who get their kicks out of rampant violent gore, or lovingly crafted (but utterly knowing) shots of Hong Kong streets, clad in neon overcoats, or even just those who get a kick out of watching Ryan Gosling staring doe-eyed and dumb-eyed into middle distance, with the ghost of a question on his brow. Whatever your voyeuristic vice, Refn has a shot for it - whether it's watching a glorified prostitute masturbate (check,) or seeing a skull split like a melon (check,) or Ryan Gosling tied to a chair (check,) or the most grossly blatant Oedipal resolution in the history of cinema (check) - all of your dirty little eyes' darkest desires are there. But there's no substance to the style, and in presenting something so fetishised, Refn manages to ignore the fact that cinema goers tend to have some expectations - they want entertainment (even the goreporn fetishists demand some semblance of story) - and effectively makes the world's first pornography dedicated to himself looking at Ryan Gosling in a serious of different locations.