Blitz
BLU-RAY 
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Director:
Elliott Lester Actors: Jason Statham Paddy Considine Aiden Gillen Rating:
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WHAT'S IT ABOUT?
A burnt-out cop (Jason Statham) is teamed with a by-the-book, posh detective (Paddy Considine) to find a killer (Aidan Gillen) that’s targeting cops in their precinct.
IS IT A GOOD MOVIE?
BLITZ is one of star Jason Statham’s few forays into the DTV market, with the other film being CHAOS, which hit disc just prior to Statham coming into his own as an action hero. BLITZ obviously wasn’t intended to go DTV, and it played theaters in the UK earlier this year. I supposed the US distributors got nervous about all the heavy English accents (with this being a South London set story) and the lack of marketable action scenes, with this being more of a slow burn thriller than typical Statham flicks.
It actually reminded me a lot of the type of movie Charles Bronson used to do in his Cannon phase, with this bearing a certain resemblance to movies like 10 TO MIDNIGHT, and MURPHY’S LAW, albeit with high production values. Statham plays your requisite tough cop who’s on the verge of a breakdown, ad is always getting shit from his supervisors from being too violent (in a twist worthy of our times, an early beatdown Statham gives to a gang of teens becomes a media sensation that almost costs him his job).
In order to curb his behavior, he’s teamed with Considine’s more responsible inspector, but in true buddy-movie fashion, how much do you want to bet that these two will eventually overcome their differences and buddy-up. It actually doesn’t take long at all here, with them having the buddy-movie heart-to-heart within the first half hour. In a novel twist, Considine’s character is openly gay, but refreshingly, not at all a stereotype, with him just being an average bloke (who happens to dress better than everyone else) who just happens to be gay- no big deal.
While this is maybe a little low-rent for Considine, who tends to do high-brow fare (including the great RED RIDING TRILOGY) he makes the most of his part, and has decent chemistry with Statham. However, the film is totally stolen by Aidan Gillen, who many will recognize as Mayor Carcetti from THE WIRE. He plays the twisted serial killer, BLITZ, with relish, and seems to be having fun in the role- which is a far cry from him buttoned up turn on THE WIRE.
The only real problem with BLITZ is that it gets a little draggy at times, and a whole subplot involving a junkie colleague of Statham’s feels tacked on from another movie (with her getting a romantic subplot of her own, opposite Luke Evans, who has almost nothing to do here). I suppose director Elliott Lester was hoping to make a sprawling cop saga, but the whole thing is a little too B-movie-ish to succeed that way. It probably would have been a good idea to throw a little more action into it, but other than a quick beatdown before the opening credits, a foot-chase, and Statham’s final showdown with the baddie, there isn’t much here to satisfy a action junkie.
It actually reminded me a lot of the type of movie Charles Bronson used to do in his Cannon phase, with this bearing a certain resemblance to movies like 10 TO MIDNIGHT, and MURPHY’S LAW, albeit with high production values. Statham plays your requisite tough cop who’s on the verge of a breakdown, ad is always getting shit from his supervisors from being too violent (in a twist worthy of our times, an early beatdown Statham gives to a gang of teens becomes a media sensation that almost costs him his job).
In order to curb his behavior, he’s teamed with Considine’s more responsible inspector, but in true buddy-movie fashion, how much do you want to bet that these two will eventually overcome their differences and buddy-up. It actually doesn’t take long at all here, with them having the buddy-movie heart-to-heart within the first half hour. In a novel twist, Considine’s character is openly gay, but refreshingly, not at all a stereotype, with him just being an average bloke (who happens to dress better than everyone else) who just happens to be gay- no big deal.
While this is maybe a little low-rent for Considine, who tends to do high-brow fare (including the great RED RIDING TRILOGY) he makes the most of his part, and has decent chemistry with Statham. However, the film is totally stolen by Aidan Gillen, who many will recognize as Mayor Carcetti from THE WIRE. He plays the twisted serial killer, BLITZ, with relish, and seems to be having fun in the role- which is a far cry from him buttoned up turn on THE WIRE.
The only real problem with BLITZ is that it gets a little draggy at times, and a whole subplot involving a junkie colleague of Statham’s feels tacked on from another movie (with her getting a romantic subplot of her own, opposite Luke Evans, who has almost nothing to do here). I suppose director Elliott Lester was hoping to make a sprawling cop saga, but the whole thing is a little too B-movie-ish to succeed that way. It probably would have been a good idea to throw a little more action into it, but other than a quick beatdown before the opening credits, a foot-chase, and Statham’s final showdown with the baddie, there isn’t much here to satisfy a action junkie.
THE EXTRAS
Not much here, other than a trailer which makes the film seem more action-heavy than it actually is, fifteen minutes of b-roll from the set, and a hour hour of interview clips from Statham, Considine, Gillan, and Lester.
FINAL DIAGNOSIS
BLITZ isn’t a bad film, but if you go in expecting THE TRANSPORTER or THE MECHANIC, you’ll be disappointed. It’s nowhere near Statham’s best work (for my money, SNATCH & THE BANK JOB), but it does the job well enough, and is a solid rental if you like cop flicks.
