DVD Corner's blog

Easy Money: Hard To Kill Blu-ray Review

“Easy Money: Hard To Kill” is a bleak, but involving sequel.

“Easy Money: Hard To Kill” (AKA “Snabba Cash 2”) is a sequel to 2010’s “Easy Money.” Having not read Jens Lapidus’ novels or seen the first film or third films in the series, I can’t tell you what happens storywise in those installments, but I can tell you about part two. This 2012 sequel contains 3 interconnected stories. One story follows a former drug smuggler named JW who is recently out on parole. While in the clink, he developed a software project to try and turn his life around, but can he avoid reverting to his criminal ways while back in the real world? The second story follows Mahmoud who is in a great deal of debt. To make matters worse, he is having major issues with his family members. The third main story involves a drug dealer (Jorge) who is aiming to steal a significant amount of money. I won’t say what happens to him, but I will say that his story crosses paths with a downtrodden prostitute.  Of course, there are other pivotal characters in these 3 tales such as the wheelchair bound Mrado and the mob boss Radovan.

Despite offering an incredibly dark, violent, and dreary look at humanity, “Easy Money: Hard To Kill” turns out to be a rather gripping and fast paced Swedish film. Sure, there aren’t really any characters one can root for (aside from maybe Nadja), but not every film has to have likable characters. It’s always refreshing to see a film that goes against the grain story wise. Granted, the “Traffic” esque script about drug dealers, criminals, backstabbing, death, consequences, and deceit is hardly original material, but the story and characters feel relatively fresh.

Perhaps the only legitimate problem with the script is that it can be a bit confusing (especially if you haven’t seen the first film). The movie really drops you into the action and expects you to know everyone and everything going on. As the movie progresses though, I think it’s fairly easy to pick up on who everyone is and what has happened to them.

Cast wise, there isn’t a bad performance in the bunch. Naturally, most people will likely talk about actor Joel Kinnaman (who was last seen in the snooze worthy “Robocop” remake) since he’s one of Hollywood’s rising stars. While his story is only a small portion of the film, he does a fine job here as JW. It’s not hard to see why he is being offered more and more projects as of late.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.40:1 1080p. How does it look? The gritty cinematography style is very fitting to the film and it looks particularly impressive in hi-def.

Audio Tracks: Swedish and English 5.1 DTS-HD tracks. How do they sound? The original language track is the only way to go here as the English track is badly dubbed.

The only extra is a trailer for “Easy Money: Hard To Kill.”

Overall Thoughts: While you should undoubtedly watch “Easy Money” first, the sequel is a solid watch. It’s not a groundbreaking movie by any stretch, but it’s an above average crime drama to be sure.

March 31, 2014 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Easy Money 2, Easy Money: Hard To Kill Blu-ray Review, Joel Kinnaman, Snabba Cash 2