If you’re not hip to what’s going to happen in
Street Kings’ final minutes by, let’s say, 15 minutes into the movie, then either you’ve missed out on every other dirty cop movie ever made or you’re so caught up in how well
Keanu Reeves pulls off his role as a tough-as-nails, take no prisoners (literally) officer you’re not actually paying attention to the story. Things are telegraphed so far in advance in
Street Kings that the words ‘suspense’ and ‘thriller’ should be banned from use in describing this latest gritty drama from
David Ayer (
Harsh Times).
Director Ayer has a real eye for capturing LA’s less glamorous streets, and with a story and screenplay by James Ellroy, another storyteller who knows his way around the turf, Street Kings has the makings of a classic cop drama. But somewhere along the line the dialogue and story took a turn down a dark alley lined with film clichés and Hollywood melodrama and didn’t emerge unscathed.
