A new, and at the same time very old, cop movie premieres this weekend. It’s new as it opens now, but that’s mainly the sole fact to support its novelty. At the same time, the movie engrosses reeled-off elements of all the previous cop movies that have been produced and we’ve seen.

The only righteous element that could spare “Righteous Kill” of the formulaic characteristic is the cast. The two leading characters are played by two heavy names of the cinematographic industry, but that’s about all that make them interesting. Actually, the movie appears to be a reunion ten years after graduation, as it gathers interesting names, but each actor doesn’t seem very interested in the role.

It’s like the movie is the pretext of the gathering, but each has his own business to mind. The leading roles are in the hands of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, but there are also other artists that show up. Curtis Jackson, a.k.a 50 Cent, takes a shot at acting, playing Spider, a drug-dealing extortionist. Also, MTV's skateboarder Rob Dyrdek ("Rob & Big") has a cameo role.

“Righteous Kill” is an attraction due to this reunion. It’s the third time De Niro and Pacino star alongside and the second time they appear together in several scenes. We’ve seen the De Niro - Pacino pair in “The Godfather: Part II” and “Heat.” You might expect that “Righteous Kill” might be Vito and Michael Corleone reloaded. Unfortunately, it’s not.

De Niro plays Turk and Rooster (Pacino) is his sidekick aging detective. Turk keeps his youthful stamina having some rough sex episodes with his nymphomaniac girlfriend (attractive Carla Gugino), but both of them see retirement as lethal. The intrigue of the plot is triggered by the fact that there are a series of murders, and each one killed was a criminal that escaped the punishment of law. Rapists, pedophiles and murderers find their end, and the motif of their killing is written in rhyming couplets.

The little poems lead the police to thinking that they are dealing with a serial killer and Turk is suspected along the way. Two other young detectives, Riley (Donnie Wahlberg) and Perez (John Leguizamo) join the chase. As we’ve mentioned, the plot is meandered and there are a lot of cameo roles featuring good actors whose performances are mostly wasted in the gig. “Frozen River’s” Melissa Leo is one example of wasted talent.

The main responsibility for the failing 100 minutes of the movie is borne by Russell Gewirtz, who signed the script (although he has inspired from loads of other previous cop movies) and director Jon Avnet (who also directed “Fried Green Tomatoes” and more successfully produced “Men Don’t Leave” or “Risky Business”).

Most probably what could alleviate the formulaic plot is the sparkling pairing of 65-year old De Niro and 68-year old Pacino. The two just click as an old team of cops, following the scarce clues tracing the serial killer.