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Four stars****

Finally, Gerard Butler gets to play a meaty part in a movie rather than his recent rush of mild mannered modest character parts. The good news is that this suits him and he carries it off fiercely. Let’s hope he finds more roles like this soon.

Siding with the bad guy is a difficult part for a screen writer to succeed with, but here writer Kurt Wimmer conveys it with vast composure, until the last scene where the bad guy has to get some bad news; he can’t get off completely free. It may have been better to see the bad guy get away with it all. After all, his planning had been excellent and it was worth seeing him ride off into the sunset, but American studios won’t allow a ‘sensible’ ending, feeling the need to always resolve the story with the bad guy getting his just deserts.

The story is so incredibly preposterous that we immediately side with the bad guy after his family are wiped out and he plots revenge against the US legal system. They’re as good a target as any ‘bad guys’ so the story unfolds as we see the bad guy always one step ahead of the legal system people.

What sets off this movie so well is that we constantly move from one level of expectation to be taken to a higher level just minutes later. This is great screenplay writing, a master example for newbies.

Nevertheless, critics have panned this movie. Perhaps they’re just being too technical over the storyline whereas movie ticket purchasers will see it as fun and interesting and receive a high level of entertainment – surely that’s why we pay over our dollars?

The producers have spent their money well. They maintain pace balanced against the special effects which turnover on a regular basis. Spoiler alert - when the judge gets shot every person in the theatre jumped out of their seats, well at least missed a heartbeat or two.

The overall premise is quite absurd, but the audience won’t mind as the bad guy gets to fight the system that we all know is also, quite ridiculous. Deals get made in the legal system that defy belief, especially to those in the ‘victim’ line. Unfortunately we also know that justice is often served best by the attorney who gets paid more, if a higher quality advocate than his opposition number. It’s a show rather than justice with this movie putting it in its place.

Heaven forbid a jury actually gets to make a difference. At least we’d like them to have a chance. That’s where Gerard Butler comes in.