AlxP-64

(2012-04-29 21:46:01)

Very good action film, and look! no CGI was used or needed

"Blitz" is a very good old-school crime film, built around the hunt fora cop-killer. The film could serve as teaching material of how to keepup the pace and the suspense for one and a half hours without usingexplosions, supermen or computer-generated imaging.Many of the scenes take place in the closed world of the policemen andpolicewomen who are the targets of the criminal and his hunters. Add anice twist of the tough-cop-meets-new-partner trope, throw in a pinchof comedic one-liners, and top it off with a very beautiful Zawe Ashtonas WPC Elizabeth Falls. Jason Statham is the tough cop (and sort ofprotagonist), Paddy Considine provides the contrast as the new partner(and boss!), and the Blitz is the killer.Nothing is larger than life, nothing is forced, nothing blows upunexpectedly; some subplots remain (mostly) unsolved, and that's justlike in life -- different stories move at their own pace, some endearlier, some later. Highly recommended, unless you are put off by blood, guns, bluntobjects, knives and such. (But then, you wouldn't want to watch a crimefilm, anyway.)

smoochpapandreas

(2012-04-29 12:46:33)

A Cockney Harry Callahan

If you want to watch the original Dirty Harry but with more mumbling inthick English accents then Blitz is the film for you.In fact, if you've ever watched a rogue cop film made in the pastthirty years, you've probably already seen this film: a jaded cop whosebrutal methods don't endear him to his more liberal (and political)superiors is brought in when a killer starts to murder cops. The restplays out pretty much as you expect but that's hardly the point with afilm of this type.What's more important is seeing Stratham back on home turf and he's farmore suited to action in urban squalor than his recent Americanvehicles where he tends to lose his shirt within ten minutes and spendthe rest of the film grumbling in a cod American accent. Here hisperformance is hardly more nuanced but at least he keeps his shirt onand is supported by a strong supporting cast, especially PaddyConsidine and the mercurial Aidan Gillen. I've never seen Gillen beforebut on the basis of this I wouldn't be surprised if he's not alreadylabelled 'the new Gary Oldman'.The film definitely has weaknesses – I can't decide about Zawe Ashton'sslightly stilted performance – but it was a hell of a lot better than Iexpected and great to see properly commercial thrillers once againbeing made in the UK.

scotts_other

(2012-04-28 16:51:25)

Bringing it back for Britain

This film is the next action film in the line of Jason Statham'ssuccessful career. It is a no nonsense British cop action film withenough story line and plenty of in your face action to keep youinterested and wondering what is next around the corner. Jason Stathamhas already reached world class status and now he is bringing it backfor Britain. He is good at what he does and he does it in this filmwell - although I liked much of what he had done before, I didn'treally care that he was in any particular film. My opinion has nowchanged as he reliably delivers action and character in bucket fullswhich is good for an actor from the UK.The film does have a particular feel as it is British made but thisfits the film well and enhances the gritty feel.If you want action, British made and varied, interesting charactersthen this is for you. If you want Hollywood, white teeth andunbelievable characters then see something else.

nikolobg

(2012-04-28 01:27:37)

Surprisingly Dull

The movie is a solid 5 yet I find myself wondering if there issomething else apart from the obvious that makes it an average titleonly worthy if you have 2 hours needed wasting. Apart from the obviousreasons, after watching it I could feel there was an inner weaknesswhich was not immediately apparent to me.The obvious reasons are a story with plot holes and unbelievablesituations, two dimensional characters and story lines that go nowhere.The action is real and leaves place for acting and a deep story, twoelements which are not there as I said. The story is terribly weak andyou feel the actors doing stuff because it's in the script. Allot ofthe secondary characters are in the movie for no reason, with a storyline about them that we don't care about, goes nowhere and remainsunresolved in the end. The only story that matters is the hunt by Nashand Brant but the way they are thrown together to visit the serialkiller is just retarded, or rather it's just because the script saysso. Nash who is responsible for a task-force hunting the serial killerwonders if he can tag along to visit a lead as he has nothing else todo and Brant because he is a nice people person likes the idea to havea partner on this visit (there is allot of sarcasm in what you justread). Those kind of forced events due to the "script says so", andthere are many which are well covered by other reviews, just makes themovie unbelievable. After reflecting further I realized the biggest fail of this movie isthat it's a criminal thriller, yet there is no suspense, criminalinvestigation or thrills. The audience knows who the murderer is fromthe start, so there is no mystery or excitement in discovering who didit. We know our hero Steven Seagal can't be hurt or killed so we arenot concerned about what can happen to him when he meets the serialkiller… uhhh I mean Jason, Jason Statham, honest mistake I swear. Theinvestigation by the detectives is as exciting and original as therepublican debates. So in the end I am left with little realisticaction, a story I don't care about which as the movie progresses I findboring, script holes, unbelievable events and characters that act basedon a weak script.There must have been some cool moments otherwise I wouldn't give it a5, I just can't remember them right now.

krs_sn

(2012-04-26 23:43:53)

guy flick

Jason statham as a gritty grumpy bad ass cop who bends the rules toserve justice.Does this sound good to you? well it did to me so Ipitched up for the movie. Statham does a very convincing job as thepolice officer,he carries on in serious earnest throughout and thereare many laugh out loud moments in the movie. The supporting cast isalso good, there are a few typical queer British characters thrown inwhich enhance the believability of the story. There aren't hard grittyaction scnenes,special effects are minimal/none. But the macho factorand testosterone factor are high. And one last thing Zawe Ashton issmoking hot, phew!

(2012-04-26 12:59:56)

A YAWNER AND HARD TO FOLLOW

A mean cop goes after meaner criminals but there isn't much to like or relate to unless you like to see people get beat up. I watched it for a good half hour and just found it boring. Plus Statham was a bit much on his accent so it was hard to follow him. WHEN WATCHED: early September 2011 (streamed); MY GRADE: D plus to C minus.

(2012-04-20 00:35:55)

Great hardcore action

A serial killer targeting cops meets his match in Statham, whose acting here marks a strong inprovement over his previous work. There's still enough action for five or six movies, but the plotline is relevant too. Never slows down for a second, and is a must for any fan of Statham.

KineticSeoul

(2012-04-19 19:23:08)

Alright for a DVD release, nothing special. Not as cool or fast paced as the trailer made it out to be

Jason Statham is known for playing a badass in a lot of his movies andthis is no exception although it seemed a bit forced at times in this.The one liners seemed really forced in this as well. This is adetective movie about a badass detective trying to track down a copserial killer. with elements of badass and balls to the wall. Howeverit wasn't cool and fast paced as the trailer made it out to be. And theway it showed starts off alright but starts to lose it's edge and sortof picks up at the end. The villain is not intimidating, clever orcunning but just a loser. Which I guess is a good thing, but there isnothing interesting at all about his character, even his motives are sostupid. It's alright I guess for a DVD release but it's nothingspecial. If it took a bit of a more clever approach it would have beenbetter.5.8/10

bb_bryson

(2012-04-18 03:11:18)

An uninspired movie

Having just watched this movie, I can see that it fails on a number ofgrounds. First criminal versus the police department idea. There are somany movies that have the local police department square off against aserial killer and most of them are better than this. Not only does hismission barely get started, but he kills people we don't know or careabout. I never felt any tension in the scenes here and it was justboring.Which brings me to one problem with this movie: the "bad guy." Thismovies requires a criminal who is exceptionally smart or talented withstrategy. "Mechanic" was better, because it always seemed like he was 3steps ahead of the police. Here a random guy who got brutalized byBrant played by Jason Stathom (can I call him the protagonist...becauseif not him then who?) and so tries to kill a bunch of police officersfor revenge. It never felt the cat and mouse story because theprotagonist and antagonist were not clever enough nor was theantagonist that interesting. I will say, though, that I trulysympathized with what happened to him as a result of Stathom's actions,and I hoped that this would lead to some character arc for theprotagonist, which would at least give some growth to theone-dimensional characters. The final scene was uninspired and thedirector forgot one thing, WE NEED THE PROTAGONIST TO HAVE A CHANCE OFLOSING. The final fight is just Brant beating up and executing the badguy. Even the final moments of the killer following Brant lacked allsense of tension or emotion. I was just waiting for this movie to end.Which brings me to the biggest problem - Brant. What a jerk! Of coursethe protagonist of a movie doesn't have to be a goodie goodie, but ifthey do have a darker side, it needs to be fleshed out, and explainedso the audience can relate. I love Godfather, Apocalypse Now, BladeRunner, and others where the protagonist does terrible things, but wecan still root for them. At what point are we supposed to identify withthis guy? And if we cannot identify with him, how can we sympathizewith him and thus care about him? If we don't like him in the slightestthen we don't care who wins at the end. Hell, even Training Day had uscare about Denzel Washington, and he wasn't even the protagonist! Sounless you are a person who loves police brutality, you will justcringe during the "action scenes" and be thinking "why the HELL hasn'the been arrested himself, or at the very least been fired???" Seriouslywe hear a little bit about him needing to 'take it easy' at thebeginning of the film, and then that's about it. Not only does thismovie have no character progression, but at the end, the guy is thesame jerk he always was. He doesn't show regret, growth or change.As for his bromance with the Nash, it just seemed contrived. Never didI feel like they should be friends. Brant lobs insults at this guy, andthe guy laughs it off. WAIT. He told us that all the jibes he got fromhis co-workers caused him to burn-out and now he becomes friends with aguy who is continuing it? How does that make sense? Seriously, whywould that guy have anything to do with Brant. Yeah well Brant says "Irespect you" a few times, I guess to make him seem more 2-dimensional(I meant that in a positive way). But we never know WHY he "respects"him. In the end, the film doesn't spend enough time on their friendshipfor it to seem real. You want to see a better example of two men hatingeach other and then slowly respecting each other - I recommend "As goodas it gets" or even "Lethal Weapon."The supporting cast was okay. I'm sure Falls' story thread was to haveBrant show her compassion and seem more well-rounded. But after thatscene he is telling the bad guy he doesn't regret what he has done tohim nor care. I didn't care about the gang kid because I didn't knowwho he was except for some racist brat that beat up (and perhapskilled) some guy and didn't want to face the consequences. And as forFalls, her motivations were unclear too. The police chief was acardboard cutout. I guess the most human character was Nash (the gayguy), but only because of the few moments of humanity and exposition wegot from him. Anyways, he was barely in this movie and Nash givingBrant the gun at the end seemed ridiculous. So now he is an accessoryto murder?What messages do we get from this film? Homophobia is okay, in fact itmakes you manly. The fact that Stathom keeps bringing it up that Nashis gay, makes me wonder if Stathom's character was in the closethimself and is struggling with gay urges and beats the crap out ofsuspects because he cannot handle those feelings. ...what else?Violence and police brutality are okay. Real police don't need searchwarrants, they can steal, assault whomever they like, brutalizesuspects, etc. Also, if the justice system doesn't work because itcares too much about the rights of the citizenry, then kill the suspectyourself. I was waiting for Brant to either grow up, regret hisactions, seem like a real person or face the consequences of hisactions. But sadly none of that came.In the end, I wasn't looking for Shakespeare here, but the film missesa few important points. a) Give the audience something to like aboutthe protagonist so we root for him to win and we care about him and b)make the antagonist clever enough to almost bring the police to theirknees.

ivankafka

(2012-04-17 22:22:51)

Gene Hunt wannabe

Statham plays a throughly dislikeable character who seems to think he'smore of an Irish gangster than a cop. However there is nothing remotelyinteresting or absorbing about the character at all, he's a onedimensional thug, perfect for Statham who can only play one dimensionalbadass characters. Even Gene Hunt has more depth to him than thisgeezer. It really pushes the bounds of believability that this manhasn't been kicked out the force ages ago.The cop killing villain is just your run of the mill psycho, acompletely under-developed character in a movie that feelsunder-developed throughout. The film seems rushed and badly puttogether, the WPC sub-plot (if you can call it that) having littlerelevance to the storyline at all but added to seemingly give the moviea slight appearance of depth, but nothing more than a typical puddle.There were other disposal scenes thrown in for brief moments that madethe movie feel disjointed. It didn't flow whatsoever, being more like adotted line of scenes and characters that weren't linked or developedvery well.A half-decent film could have been made with better characterisation, amore interesting plot and less clichГѓВ©d script. As it stands, the movieis a badly constructed and very routine cop film.

(2012-04-16 05:49:16)

Top Drawer Suspense/Psychological Drama

BLITZ is very much worth watching. Yes, it is another exploration of what makes a good and bad cop, but this time the story is so well told and the actors are so convincing that once this film has 'blitzed' by the viewer's eyes, watching it again will be an even more positive experience. Based on the novel by Ken Bruen and adapted for the screen with crackling dialogue by Nathan Parker, the story of the film is not so much one that is tough to follow - that's not the point - it is how the characters deploy themselves that makes it explode. Elliot Lester shows his mettle as an action director who understands character development and allows it to develop very naturally.Detective Sargeant Tom Brant (Jason Statham) has his own way of catching and punishing criminals and his quick temper and disgust for perpetrators tends to make him act quickly and violently, a trait that gets him into trouble with his superiors. A serial cop killer who goes by the name of Blitz or Barry Weiss (Aidan Gillen) is out to kill as many cops as possible because of the way Brant treated him in a pool hall brawl a few years ago. One of the cops - Chief Inspector James Roberts (Mark Rylance) is victimized and put on leave and is replaced by gay cop Porter Nash (Paddy Considine). Initially at odds because of Brant's curt put down of Nash's lifestyle, the two finally join hands, discover why they are motivated to be violent from a very similar background, and the two set out to capture the Blitz. The media gets involved with reporter Dunlop (David Morrisey) from a tip from the serial killer who really is after fame. A sidebar involves a prior undercover cop in the drug world, WPC Elizabeth Falls (Zawe Ashton), who has her own personal bruises and joins in the chase for the killer with the apparent aid of DI Craig Stokes (Luke Evans). But just when these disparate cops think they have the serial killer Blitz under control, Blitz outsmarts them again until the well-staged suspenseful chase brings the film to a surprising close.BLITZ is a yarn well told and well acted: Statham and Considine have great screen chemistry and the cameo roles are all molded to perfection by a very strong British cast. Very much worth seeing at least once...Grady Harp, August 11

(2012-04-16 01:27:05)

Blitz Was A Bust

This review is from: Blitz (Amazon Instant Video) Movie story dragged and did not take any real time to develop the characters. The show reminded me of watching a CSI episode at best. If you are counting on any Jason Statham fight seens I recommend you do not bother watching this one since there are really none based on his previous movies.

(2012-04-12 18:06:40)

The worst Jason Statham ever!

Admittedly Jason Statham is not famous for movies with much depth, but even by his standards this is an absolutely terrible stupid movie. Bad story, bad acting.

Joseph Proimakis

(2012-04-11 22:54:32)

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(2012-04-11 07:22:23)

Above-average cop-oriented thriller

Judge Gordon Sullivan, DVD Verdict-- Based on the cover art and synopsis, Blitz looks like just another Jason Statham vehicle where our muscle-bound hero careens through London, bashing heads until he finds the killer. I was perfectly okay with that. Instead, Blitz is much more of an ensemble piece than it first appears. In addition to Statham's "killer cop," we get his boss Porter Nash (Paddy Considine, The Bourne Ultimatum) a homosexual cop with a past; Elizabeth Falls, a friend who's just got out of rehab after a stint as an undercover drug cop; and Blitz himself (Aiden Gillean, The Wire), a compelling, smarmy killer who makes the perfect villain. It helps that all these characters are played by excellent actors.More importantly, this cast of characters allows Blitz to tell a story that's a little more complicated than "catch the killer." Obviously finding Blitz is the central story here, but the film weaves in police violence and corruption, the media's complicity in that violence, drug addiction, homosexuality, and burnout. Of course the film doesn't have the most original things to say about these issues, but it's nice to see a cop film that isn't afraid to balance the action with a bit of intellect. The multiple storylines also allow the film to build tension in the main story. The audience knows who the killer is very early on (and the cops find out not much later). By weaving the other stories into the capture of Blitz, the film builds tension by not proceeding to the obvious showdown between good guys and bad guy. Still, it wouldn't be a Jason Statham film without him kicking in some heads and cracking wise. Blitz doesn't ignore those moments, offering some satisfying cracks from Statham, both physical and verbal.Blitz comes to Blu-ray with a solid AVC-encoded transfer. The film was shot with a lot of wide angle lenses and the picture can get a bit soft around the edges, though that's probably a deliberate choice and not a failing of the transfer. In general, though, detail is strong, and colors are well-saturated. Black levels are consistent and deep, and grain crops up appropriately in a few places. The DTS-HD surround track is fine as well, offering clear dialogue from the center channel, and a bit of atmosphere in the surrounds. The low end gets some use, but not as much as many action films. Subtitles are included for those who have trouble with British accents. Extras include some interviews with the cast and crew and a roll of behind-the-scenes footage. We also get the film's U.K. theatrical trailer.-Full review at dvdverdict.com

(2012-04-10 19:09:30)

Typical Rogue Cop But Well Acted

Pretty typical rogue cop handles crime his own way in this suspense film of a police serial killer with some revengeful issues he's aiming to satisfy. The film makes no effort to hide the identity of the killer but weaves it's story around a few of the murders and Jason's attempt to identify and find the killer. Pretty straight forward but what makes this film worth the time is the acting for all involved was good+ enough to be entertaining and engaging. To illustrate, visualize Jason's usual disheveled raw urban persona during his interview of a witness. The witness asks, "Ain't you gonna take any notes?" to which Jason replies, "Do I look like I carry a pencil?" That sums up the movie but of course you have to see and hear it to appreciate it's import.

zzyzx000-124-271558

(2012-04-09 06:57:04)

Dirty Harry Rewrite

It's basically Dirty Harry UK. Another punk laughing at the Cops whocan't prove he is killing them. It's got a good sound track. Other thanthat, it's a movie for people who don't think or demand any connectionto the real world.I can enjoy silly premises like BACK TO THE FUTURE as much as anybody.All I do is suspend a few things I know as impossible and go with itfor a fantasy ride.This flick though is set in the real world. None of it makes sense.Nothing about police procedures, or legal procedures or forensics makesany sense whatsoever. Every scene is nonsensical. If you can suspendall that you know all the time, then maybe you'll like it. It's not lowbudget.

FiveHundredFlicks

(2012-04-08 17:33:31)

Good Ingredients, Decent Chef, Bland Dish

I'll echo what others have said about Blitz. It has a decent cast andthe director obviously knows what he's doing but it seems that's notenough to make a film good.**SPOILER ALERT** There are a number of glaring errors in the storyline, chief amongstthem being the 50k which is returned to the suspect when plod can'tcome up with enough evidence to hold him any longer.The 50k did not belong to the suspect, it was in the toilets with thedead fella and despite plod knowing that the journalist was in thetoilets with the stiff for 10 minutes 'looking for the money'which hadbeen given to the dead fella, when the money turns up in the possessionof the chief suspect that's seemingly not enough to link him with themoiders. Chinny reckon ! Mind you, with the increasing level of apparent incompetence of some UKpolice forces that glaring error may be required in any script.Some scenes were dealt with in keeping with the film but othersappeared rushed as if the director wanted to shoehorn in some Sweeneytype dialogue or the actor's agents had demanded X amount of screentime in the contract.Always a pleasure to watch Paddy Considine in any film and it's notfair to watch Jason Statham in Lock, Stock, Snatch, Crank 1 & 2 andthen compare his performance in those films to his lack lustreperformance in Blitz.Could have been a great movie but it's come out only as watchable.

(2012-04-06 23:00:21)

Absolutely horrible.

I was so dissapointed of this movie because i am a huge fan of jason , it was so boring that i decided to read a book instead. I dont get all the great reviews, but then again you are entitled to your opinion. I gave this a negative 1.

(2012-04-06 13:48:15)

Possibly the worst movie ever - Not an Action movie

I like action flicks. I like Jason Statham. This was not an action movie. The first 2 minutes of the movie had more action than the next hour and a half. This movie was filled with pointless sub plots. The movie didn't make sense. You kept thinking, "why did he do that?" or "Doesn't he have enough evidence?" or "that is just plain stupid."The dialogue was corny, cliche, and just plain dumb.I think you could close your eyes, point at any movie in a video store, and the movie you select would easily be better than this. Stay away from this movie. I dont know how anyone could give it above 2 stars.