Street Kings (2008) Movie Review

[WillRiker]

Movie Title: Street Kings

Director: David Ayer

Rated: South Africa:16LV | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | Hong Kong:IIB | Argentina:16 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA | UK:15 | Malaysia:18PL | Ireland:16 | Germany:18 | Iceland:16 | USA:R (certificate #4415 | Norway:15

Genre: Crime | Drama | Thriller

Runtime: 109 min

Viewed: Sitting in my chair in front of the TV

Trailer:

MTW presents yet another YouTube - Street Kings international trailer video

Synopsis: Tom Ludlow is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.

Opinion: So I hadn't actually heard much about this movie until it was recommended to me by someone on another forum who had nothing but good things to say about it so I thought I'd give it a look.

My immediate impression after about the first 20-25 minutes was that it was going to be maybe a little slow and something along the lines of Richard Gere movie Internal Affairs...sort of a "bad" cop leading a ring of other "bad cops" until someone decides to take them down.

I'm glad to say that I was wrong about that, it did pick up pace and whilst the beginning wasn't slow as such it just took a while to really grab my attention, maybe it was the dodgy quality of the copy I saw...maybe it was Keanu Reeves wooden acting, (let's be honest does he really have any other kind?) and don't get me wrong, I'm actually a fan of Keanu's movies and think he makes some decent films, it's just he's always so damn wooden...which considering I've read quite a few reviews about how this movie shows his range as an actor is strange...maybe it's just me but I kept expecting him to come out with a Bill & Ted "Woah!"......although he was better in this than he was in Dracula, (although that really wasn't hard to do).

So all that aside...was it any good?

Yes, it absolutely is!

The movie has a good, compelling storyline, excellent gun fights, chases and plenty of action. That is all backed up with a pretty good script that delivers some great dialogue from a whole range of excellent actors such as the brilliant Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans, Hugh Laurie, and Jay Mohr to name a few. Common & The Game also turn their hand to acting very well.

The storyline wasn't too complex or difficult to follow, which in an age of movies constantly trying to have a "twist" was actually a refreshing change. It meant that you kinda had figured out who was doing what and to who before the movie got anywhere near the end, but that didn't matter as you were kind of along for the ride by that point of the movie and wanted to see how it all ended up.

So to sum up, I enjoyed it...was it one of the greatest movies I've ever watched?...no, probably not...was it a good movie, with a solid script, pretty good acting for the most part with plenty of action, blood and bullets?....yes, it most certainly was and if you like crime/cop thrillers then I can definitely recommend this movie.

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