An absurd, senseless and grotesque serial killer thriller is led by Samuel L. Jackson over a cliff with a highly regarded European cast. Damaged kicks off at an impossible pace and maintains low IQ points as it goes on for each frame that passes by. There are critical flaws in the plot which superficially tells about an American detective assisting Scottish police investigate satanic murders. The supposed mystery hinges on their expertise as investigators. Sub-plot is melodramatic making these terrifying waters even more unclear to pass through. These guys are not effective enough to let any of the psychopathic killers get away.
Damaged starts in Scotland’s Edinburgh when a young woman (Nicolette McKeown) leaves the synagogue after worshiping. She does not see him or her mysterious man in rain coat stalking from behind.The cloaked figure knocks maliciously on her door.He however foolishly opens it onto a stabbing frenzy.As requested, the murderer embarks on his butchering using a hacksaw he had just removed from one of his bags.
A drunken detective, Dan Lawson (Jackson), walks into dead body in Chicago.When drunk he still easily concludes what has occurred.He keeps drinking inside his vehicle until someone knocks at its window.Their authorities call him back to Scotland urgently.A woman has been murdered and mutilated in a manner corresponding to satanic cross.It is strangely familiar as same thing happened five years ago whereby five women were killed in Chicago.Lawson never found who did it.His partner Walter Bravo (Vincent Cassel) retired and became alcoholic after this case.
On the other hand DCI Glen Boyd (Gianni Capaldi) has opened investigations into such cases in Edinburgh.Being shattered after losing his son Boyd’s life completely fell apart.Marie (Laura Haddock), his brokenhearted wife still hasn’t come out of that pain.One of Kessler’s best officers could pull himself together and solve the case.Suddenly Boyd went to pick up Lawson and starts briefing him.They are returning to the bloody crime scene.Lawson spots a clue that the Scottish investigators didn’t see.There is something different about this from what happened in Chicago.Lawson realizes that there will be other victims.He decides to come out of retirement.
Damaged tries to throw off viewers with obvious red herrings. They write it this way as an attempt at an easier escape from real identities. This is not concealed by anyone. The killer’s identity could never have been given away so easily as this is.This was the beginning that signaled the whole script had nothing more up its sleeve and Damaged veered off into the madness. A coherent and believable mystery is not built from here on. The next events are almost funny.
Boyd’s personal life takes away all energy from the storyline.It is done for a clichéd reason you can guess even before seeing it coming.Besides, it has lots of room whereas its length is relatively short.For sure, they knew their story line was too thin such that they needed to extend it as far as possible.He actually plays a bigger part than any other character but he is unimpressive and does not inspire confidence.Domestic issues drive him in searching for the assailant which seems ridiculous considering his role as lead investigator.
As Lawson, Jackson’s act is also puzzling. No way would a drunken detective be put on duty or anywhere near such an important case. The smell of whiskey and the fact that they have handled similar murders before gives Boyd and Kessler confidence in him. They never inquire about his failure to solve these cases. Important details are skipped for the sake of film-making laziness. Boyd and Kessler should have had issues with Lawson’s attitude.
Calling in reinforcements does not change anything for Lawson. Bravo comes out of nowhere like a groundhog in Cassel’s movie. He is always absent when they go to various murder sites with Boyd, yet this isn’t the case whenever it is Bravo and Boyd who are together in those scenes. What happened to these guys working together? Something smells bad in Edinburgh but it isn’t the corpses rotting inside there somewhere. These fellows don’t seem to agree.
Damaged is built on reveals that are not so surprising after all. The supposed twists and gotcha moments land with an epic thud. Poor exposition by the film showed what it was aiming at hence its excruciating B-movie climax became even worse than expected When considering that this also boasted a cast including John Hannah as a critical supporting actor, it beggars belief how such a refined group of actors could result in such a terrible piece of cinema all round; albeit British television director Terry McDonough (The Expanse, The Street) has decades of experience under his belt.Terry McDonough, legendary British TV director (The Expanse, The Street), must not have been engaged at different stages during script production while shooting was going on then during post-production period.Everyone involved got paid but did not deliver.
Grindstone Entertainment Group – Red Sea Media – BondIt Media Capital – Tartan Bridge Films et al., produced Damaged, Moreover, Lionsgate provides it on demand and digital right now as you can either rent or buy it on YouTube, Apple TV, Google Play, and Prime Video by following the link below:
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