Payback

A stylish noir-gangster movie with a persuasive Mel Gibson in the lead role of a hardened thief, Porter. Helgeland managed to reproduce the exact atmosphere of most of Donald E. Westlake's books (Payback was based on "The Hunter" published under the pseudonym Richard Stark) and shows a world full of villains, junkies, hookers, corrupt cops, sadists and just plain idiots with whom the main character encounters. Accompanied by a sarcastic voice-over monologue, Porter slowly works his way to his seventy thousand dollars which was stolen from him by his partner Val and his wife. The way in which he eliminates all obstacles is simply cool, and you have to keep your fingers crossed for him even if you don't want to. After a while you don’t mind the plot’s predictability, and that you’ve seen this somewhere before, as you get carried away by a world that's as hard as scotch-soaked kidneys, but also damn relatable. My personal Top 20. (11/09/2006)

I've always liked Mel Gibson and in this tough thriller, where he plays an action hero, he simply fits. The whole thing is stylized, as if it was almost shot based on a comic book. It was based on a novel, but the visual side was managed well. It's properly tough, the story is not completely stupid, on the contrary, it's quite elaborate. I liked this movie once and nothing has changed even after some time. (07/05/2014)

A brilliantly built-up thriller with a pace that is simply unreal in the second half. And yet so little is enough... Just steal $140,000 (no, sorry, just $70,000) from Mel Gibson and you'll unleash the kind of carousel of murders, shootouts and badass one-liners that we only remember from the first Die Hard. Gibson shines in his role and enjoys it to the fullest, but the supporting characters are also given a memorable portrayal by the actors, whether I'm thinking of the bad guys Henry, Kristofferson and Coburn or the pretty sharp hooker Lucy Liu. Simple, straightforward, harsh – just the way it should be. (23/07/2012)

The brutality suits the noir-themed crime stories well. On the journey for revenge, Gibson, as a tough guy with a steel gaze, loves a beautiful prostitute, seeks out a traitor, and encounters - uh - a sadistic dominatrix leading an Asian gang. I can't remember the last time I used that word, but Payback is a cool movie, with a perfect cold look, and some scenes are amazingly uncompromising in their brutality, but unfortunately, everything is always just tough, and throughout the whole time, I didn't experience any significant twist that would have affected me in any way. Helgeland relies on stylish form, but the essence constantly eludes him. (11/06/2007)

A rakish, hardheaded gangster played by Mel Gibson, the pretty blonde he cares about, a couple of dumb corrupt cops, a pile of violence, some sado-masochism and, mainly, a dozen goons whose “coolness” increases as they gradually get to know each other, from the biggest bungler to the biggest, toughest and most uncompromising boss. And all of this wrapped up in nostalgic, grey-blue camera filters and hellishly black humour. A delicious treat! (10/08/2002)