BLITZ
2011
R
"A word of advice, girls. If you're picking the wrong fight, at least pick the right weapon."
-- Detective Sergeant Tom Brant
R
"A word of advice, girls. If you're picking the wrong fight, at least pick the right weapon."
-- Detective Sergeant Tom Brant
Blitz is a 2011 crime thriller directed by Elliott Lester that centers around a rage-filled cop's attempts to bring a cop killer to justice. Detective Sergeant Tom Brant (Jason Statham) is constantly in hot water at his police precinct for his brutal methods of bringing suspects to justice. As he faces disciplinary action, some of his fellow officers start to be killed by a lone gunman who calls himself the Blitz (Aidan Gillen). With the help of Porter Nash (Paddy Considine), an officer from a nearby precinct, Brant starts to piece together the clues as to who the Blitz actually is. As more and more clues begin to surface, he starts to realize that he and the Blitz are more connected than he had originally presumed.
I first heard about this film from one of the people who follows the "This Movie Guy" Facebook page, and he recommended it rather highly. Adding to his recommendation was the inclusion of Statham in the lead role, and this all combined for a film that I deemed a personal must-see. For those of you who don't know, I have a little bit of a man-crush on Mr. Statham, and I'll watch literally any film in which he appears. He's the action hero of my generation, and he plays such a realistic character - even if it's the same exact character in every single movie - that it's hard for me to stay away from his films. So, with all of that coming together, I thought I'd be in for quite a show.
Unfortunately, I can't quite give Blitz my blessing. Now, we do get some relatively good performances. Statham is his usual self, bringing the action and the under-handed humor here and there. Considine brings a nice performance in an under-utilized character. We also get a fine bit from Zawe Ashton, who portrays the only main female character in the film. However, if the acting award has to go to anyone in this flick, it's our villain played by Gillen. He's a true bad guy of the 21st century, even dropping references to "updating his Facebook status" after being arrested. There's something very eerie and creepy about his character, and he fits the vein of charismatic villain quite well. Although his character psychology is a little shoddy, Gillen does a fine job bringing the character to life, and he should be commended.
The real issue I had with the film was the screenplay. While it has its moments of greatness, it mostly falls a little bit flat. For the first hour, I found myself rather lost as it seemed like there were too many intersecting storylines, some of which were entirely unnecessary. To be fair, the film does come together in the last twenty minutes or so, but everything before that point was so convoluted and confusing that I find it very difficult to keep myself invested in the events taking place on-screen. I felt like the film couldn't decide whether it wanted to be an all-out action thriller or a drawn-out, brooding crime drama. I think you can make an argument for either one, but if they were trying to combine the two, it just didn't work out very well.
Overall, I can't quite say that you should watch Blitz. It's a stylishly well-made film, but there's just no enthusiasm or pizazz behind it. There's just no energy to keep it moving along. It has its moments where it seems like it's going to be great, but then it slows down, and you get mired in bouts of boredom. Still, it's a Statham film, which is enough to get me to watch it. It's not one of his best, however.
Movie Review Summary
Grade: C+
0.5 Thumbs Up
I first heard about this film from one of the people who follows the "This Movie Guy" Facebook page, and he recommended it rather highly. Adding to his recommendation was the inclusion of Statham in the lead role, and this all combined for a film that I deemed a personal must-see. For those of you who don't know, I have a little bit of a man-crush on Mr. Statham, and I'll watch literally any film in which he appears. He's the action hero of my generation, and he plays such a realistic character - even if it's the same exact character in every single movie - that it's hard for me to stay away from his films. So, with all of that coming together, I thought I'd be in for quite a show.
Unfortunately, I can't quite give Blitz my blessing. Now, we do get some relatively good performances. Statham is his usual self, bringing the action and the under-handed humor here and there. Considine brings a nice performance in an under-utilized character. We also get a fine bit from Zawe Ashton, who portrays the only main female character in the film. However, if the acting award has to go to anyone in this flick, it's our villain played by Gillen. He's a true bad guy of the 21st century, even dropping references to "updating his Facebook status" after being arrested. There's something very eerie and creepy about his character, and he fits the vein of charismatic villain quite well. Although his character psychology is a little shoddy, Gillen does a fine job bringing the character to life, and he should be commended.
The real issue I had with the film was the screenplay. While it has its moments of greatness, it mostly falls a little bit flat. For the first hour, I found myself rather lost as it seemed like there were too many intersecting storylines, some of which were entirely unnecessary. To be fair, the film does come together in the last twenty minutes or so, but everything before that point was so convoluted and confusing that I find it very difficult to keep myself invested in the events taking place on-screen. I felt like the film couldn't decide whether it wanted to be an all-out action thriller or a drawn-out, brooding crime drama. I think you can make an argument for either one, but if they were trying to combine the two, it just didn't work out very well.
Overall, I can't quite say that you should watch Blitz. It's a stylishly well-made film, but there's just no enthusiasm or pizazz behind it. There's just no energy to keep it moving along. It has its moments where it seems like it's going to be great, but then it slows down, and you get mired in bouts of boredom. Still, it's a Statham film, which is enough to get me to watch it. It's not one of his best, however.
Movie Review Summary
Grade: C+
0.5 Thumbs Up
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