DP Larry Smith (who worked with Refn on 2008's Bronson) convincingly makes it seem as if the hallways are saturated with viscous blood, but the perplexing back-and-forth between "dream" and fight sequences, coupled with an intrusive soundtrack heavy on synthetic strings, make the movie difficult to attend to. In a knowing nod to just how little what the characters say actually matters, several pivotal conversations are inaudible: lips move, but the soundtrack drowns out the voices.
Jonathan Robbins
July 17, 2013