The trailers for BLITZ caught my interest, seeming to promise a contemporary, British take on the first DIRTY HARRY movie; a cop thriller with a morally ambiguous anti-hero facing a grandiose, psychopathic villain. And that's more or less what you get, although it's also something an ensemble piece with much of the screen time taken up by a number of sub-plots, somewhat like BROOKLYN'S FINEST.
The early scenes of the film are a little too frantic, and seem to be put together without too much care initially making the film a little unwelcoming; at first seeming uncomfortably redolent of the lower end of of Danny Dyer's filmography. Once things settle down however, it's a fairly predictable but entertaining film with good performances, solid action and rather more interesting characters than you'd expect. I haven't read the source material (a novel of the same name by Ken Bruen), but I suspect it's at least partly responsible for giving the film a grittier, pulpier feel than you'd associate with Statham. The Dubstep soundtrack helps give the film a contemporary vibe appropriate to its South London setting.
It certainly wont be as well remembered as DIRTY HARRY, but BLITZ is one of Statham's strongest vehicles to date.
The early scenes of the film are a little too frantic, and seem to be put together without too much care initially making the film a little unwelcoming; at first seeming uncomfortably redolent of the lower end of of Danny Dyer's filmography. Once things settle down however, it's a fairly predictable but entertaining film with good performances, solid action and rather more interesting characters than you'd expect. I haven't read the source material (a novel of the same name by Ken Bruen), but I suspect it's at least partly responsible for giving the film a grittier, pulpier feel than you'd associate with Statham. The Dubstep soundtrack helps give the film a contemporary vibe appropriate to its South London setting.
It certainly wont be as well remembered as DIRTY HARRY, but BLITZ is one of Statham's strongest vehicles to date.