Starring Keanu Reeves, the new fast paced thriller, Street Kings, tackles the harsh, corrupt world of the LAPD.
When veteran cop Detective Tom Ludlow is implicated in the execution style death of a fellow officer, he is forced to take matters into his own hands. Now, not only is he facing disillusionment with the police force, he is still grieving over the death of his wife.
Directed with gusto by David Ayer, who's better known for his screenplay “Training Day”; the film, is also based on a story by the great James Ellroy. And with such a pedigree, you'd expect Street Kings to be an exciting film. Unfortunately, even though it is entertaining, it is clichéd and very predictable.
Though Ayers direction is solid and tight - the first 20 minutes are really good - he is only given an average screenplay to work with.
Co-written by Ellroy, Kurt Wimmer and Jamie Moss, Street Kings does offer us an interesting and complex character in Tom Ludlow - played brilliantly by Keanu Reeves. But unfortunately the script doesn't follow through with convincing support characters.
I just didn't buy Forest Whitaker as Ludlow's Captain and Hugh Laurie was really out of his depth as the inquisitive internal affairs detective.
Street Kings is not a bad film it is just disappointing. For all its sharp dialogue and shoot 'em up sequences it left me feeling a little numb. Maybe I've seen far too many of these “bad cop” genre films, to be suitably surprised or thrilled.
However Keanu Reeves has rarely been better and for that is deserves 3 stars.
