Corrupt cop films are ten a penny these days, but STREET KINGS quickly turns out to be the finest of its genre: a lean, tough-as-nails, straight-to-the-point thriller that screams grittiness throughout. Keanu Reeves stars as an amoral cop surrounded by his even more amoral colleagues and criminals, searching for a spark of humanity in amid all the dross of his life. Reeves is, let's face it, a forgettable actor these days (remember him in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL? Nope, didn't think so) but he gives his best performance to date here, a multi-faceted exploration of an inherently good guy on the edge. There's absolutely no faulting him.
The twisty-turny plot moves along at a cracking pace and fulfils the action quotient with plenty of decent shoot-outs and ambushes. The snappy dialogue is delivered by a cast populated with stand-out turns, whether it's Hugh Laurie's snarky internal affairs man or Forest Whitaker's friendly captain. Chris Evans, usually bland in superhero fare like FANTASTIC FOUR, delivers a sterling turn as the upstanding young cop and nobody feels out of place.
If the film has a flaw, it's that it initially feels a little afloat, searching for a decent plot to latch onto. As it progresses, the story grows clearer until, come the end, I was riveted by some of the best twists I've seen in a good while and a genuine sense of danger and a guy out of his depth. Forget DARK BLUE, forget NARC, STREET KINGS is where it's at!
The twisty-turny plot moves along at a cracking pace and fulfils the action quotient with plenty of decent shoot-outs and ambushes. The snappy dialogue is delivered by a cast populated with stand-out turns, whether it's Hugh Laurie's snarky internal affairs man or Forest Whitaker's friendly captain. Chris Evans, usually bland in superhero fare like FANTASTIC FOUR, delivers a sterling turn as the upstanding young cop and nobody feels out of place.
If the film has a flaw, it's that it initially feels a little afloat, searching for a decent plot to latch onto. As it progresses, the story grows clearer until, come the end, I was riveted by some of the best twists I've seen in a good while and a genuine sense of danger and a guy out of his depth. Forget DARK BLUE, forget NARC, STREET KINGS is where it's at!