Review
“Street Kings” has nothing new to offer.
The plot: After being at the scene of a murder of a fellow cop, Officer Tom Ludlow is suspected of being involved with the crime. Wanting to clear his name and find out what really happened, Ludlow begins to investigate the murder only to find a trail that leads to corrupt cops.
Have you seen “Training Day” or the television series “The Shield”? If you haven’t, you should stop reading this review and check those out since “Street Kings” is nothing but a poor imitator of them. ‘Kings’ literally brings nothing new to the table. It’s an unoriginal corrupt cop story filled with mindless violence, far fetched plot twists, and insufferable dialogue. To give you a sample of some of the dialogue, here are some of the unintentionally funny lines that appear throughout:
“Dude, cops are like weeds.”
“You are the tip of the fu**ing spear. Who’s going to hold back the animals?”
Captain Briggs: “You get shot?” Ludlow: No. Yeah.
I’m sure many of you are wondering about the cast and I wish I could say some of the actors were good here, but the truth is everyone is slumming it here. “House” star Hugh Laurie randomly shows up in a few scenes looking like he just walked in from the set of his popular show. Oscar winner Forest Whitaker hams it up with a bizarre “Scarface” Al Pacino accent. I hate to say it but Whitaker seems to be going down the Halle Berry route lately with poor role choices. Hopefully, he can bounce back with a winner soon. As for Keanu Reeves, he acts like his typical lifeless self which is rarely ever a good thing (“Matrix” and “Bill And Ted” aside). Why he continues to get roles is beyond me.
Picture and Sound
The 2.40:1 widescreen picture quality is top notch. You can’t really ask for a sharper transfer. The colors and Los Angeles locals looked near perfect.
The DTS HD 5.1 Lossless audio track was solid all around. The dialogue, music, shootouts sounded clear to me.
Extras
* 15 deleted scenes that mostly revolve around Ludlow. Optional commentary by David Ayer is also included.
* Inside look at “Mirrors.”
* Digital Copy.
* Fox trailers (including two for “Street Kings”).
* 4 behind the scenes clips titled “In Training,” “Squibs,” “Car Rig,” and “On Set.”
* Commentary by David Ayer.
* 10 alternate takes.
* 4 vignettes on the crash scene, training, and shootouts.
* “Under Surveillance: Inside The World Of Street Kings”- A Picture In Picture extra containing interviews about the score, the actor’s training, etc.
* “Street Cred” is a 4 minute featurette about the streets.
* HBO 1st look- City Of Fallen Angels- Making Street Kings- A 12 minute behind-the-scenes featurette.
* “L.A. Bete Noir- Writing Street Kings”- A 5 minute featurette containing interviews with the various writers. Curiously, James Ellroy is the only one who isn’t interviewed. I wonder if he disowned the project as the script changed drastically from what I have heard.
* The best extra is titled “Street Rules: Rolling With David Ayer and Jaime Fitzsimons”- A 17 ½ minute tour of the city of Rampart with director David Ayer and former cop Jaime Fitzsimons.
