Street Kings

"How can you shoot a guy taking a dump? I mean, seriously, that's sacred. That's like shooting a man in church." When I was a teenager I thought this was the shit, plot twists all around and I felt epic liking a film like this! Street Kings! Anyway 14 years later I can see why I loved it back then. It is gritty, it is about dirty cops and the opening shootout is great. Still I should've seen the twists coming from a mile away. But seeing the cast now and they have a lot of people I like. Hugh Laurie, Forest Whitaker, Keanu Reeves, Chris Evans, Naomie Harris and even Terry Crews! I just wish David Ayer did more with it! Street Kings feels like your typical 00's action movie and does everything by the numbers with a great cast. It is just such a shame you get the feeling it could've been much more.

I always forget that [spoiler]Wander's got hands in the end. Wouldn't expect Forest Whitaker to go up against Keanu Reeves[/spoiler] and hold his own. This isn't the _best_ thriller about police corruption; one of James Ellroy's earlier works has that honor: LA Confidential. Street Kings is, however, still a decent thriller, and pre-MCU Chris Evans did his best to make everyone forget about those god-awful Fantastic Four movies with roles like in this and Sunshine. The way it was originally sold to me to catch my interest was "Imagine if Denzel had succeeded in corrupting Ethan Hawke in Training Day." Maybe a bit reductive, but it's still kinda accurate for Keanu's and Whitaker's character's working relationship.