Damaged (2024)

With a cast of big name actors like Samuel L. Jackson, Vincent Cassel and John Hannah in the cast it was hard to resist this film.

However, at first glance, both from its synopsis and its short length, it gave the impression of being a film where the stars would simply collect their paychecks and move on... and I was right.

Damaged follows a pattern we've seen countless times before: the hunt for a serial killer wreaking havoc in a specific location.

This time, the city of Edinburgh in Scotland is the setting, where Chief Inspector Glen Boyd (played by Gianni Capaldi, who also co-wrote the script) will investigate the case while dealing with his own tragedy, the death of his son, a grief shared with his wife (played by Laura Haddock, also known as Meredith Quill in the Marvel Universe).

The characters played by Jackson and Cassel will assist Inspector Boyd in his investigation.

One of the biggest mistakes is having two names like Samuel L. Jackson and Vincent Cassel and not using their acting potential to the fullest.

With Jackson, they try to try a little harder; however, to see an actor who has shone in films like ‘Pulp Fiction’, ‘Django Unchained’, ‘The Protected’, ‘Die Hard: The Revenge’, among many others, perform at a much lower level here is disappointing.

Vincent Cassel does just enough, while the best of the known actors is John Hannah, playing an unpleasant character, far removed from his more crowd-pleasing roles in the Mummy trilogy.

Obviously, in a film of this type, one would expect an unexpected plot twist, and so it does.

However, it comes in a way that feels more like an improvised idea, with no clues given throughout the film.

Admittedly, the idea itself is not badly thought out, but by presenting it in this way, it takes some of the magic out of the big reveal.

And even so, the film fails to pass the test, especially when in the last scene the chroma key is so obvious that it's a little embarrassing.

All in all, I consider this film to be a failure.