‘Dead Man Down’ lifeless

Colin Farrell in a scene from “Dead Man Down.”

Suspending disbelief is a part of watching most any action film, where bullets fly like birds and mayhem explodes as easily as a shaken soda can. But even in such a contrived movie world, it’s asking far too much for us to accept that Noomi Rapace would be hounded as a “monster” for a little scaring around her left eye.

It’s just one of the many silly leaps of logic taken in the lifeless “Dead Man Down,” a film that brings together two lost souls bent on vengeance. Colin Farrell stars as a brooding gangster, Victor, who’s infiltrated the brutal gang of Alphonse (Terrence Howard) to avenge the deaths of his wife and daughter. He’s joined in revenge by Rapace’s Beatrice, who spies him across from a neighboring high-rise, and blackmails him into killing the drunk driver that crashed into her.

I’ve had pimples worse than the marks left on Beatrice’s face, but she’s mad with murderous fury at the blemish and – despite her obvious, unmarred beauty – is chased by rock-throwing kids for her supposed disfigurement. “Dead Man Down” either can’t stomach having its star actress appear actually maimed, or it’s simply too lazy to make Beatrice’s motivations plausible.

It’s the first Hollywood film for Danish director Niels Arden Oplev, who made the original “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” starring Rapace. “Dead Man Down” starts with vacant sidewalk musings by Victor’s friend and cohort Darcy (Dominic Cooper), who, while holding his newborn, reflects on how “we’re not meant to be alone.” Deep stuff, indeed.