Dirty Tommy
I suppose it was only a matter of time but eventually someone would remake "Dirty Harry". Okay that may not be the truth but "Blitz" is basically an update of Eastwood's famous movie with Jason Statham taking on the role of the tough cop after a killer who just happens to be a cop killer as well. The update also throws at us the contemporary idea that are tough cop forms an alliance with an openly homosexual cop which he refers to as "poofter" in a friendly ribbing sort of way. But unfortunately "Blitz" doesn't work suffering from a lack of flow which makes it disjointed but also because with the name Statham comes expectations of snappy action and there is very little.
Tom Brant (Jason Statham - The Expendables) is a tough cop with a bad rep, the press vilify him for his violent tendencies and his own brand of justice causes issues for his superiors. But when a man calling himself 'Blitz' starts killing cops Brant is the best man for the job to track him down assisted by DC Porter Nash (Paddy Considine - Submarine) an openly homosexual cop who despite his refined exterior is not that different to Brant.
On paper "Blitz" should work because the old "Dirty Harry" story of a cop going after a serial killer has room to evolve and that is what we get. From Brant partnering up with a homosexual cop to a subplot surrounding a female cop who whilst working undercover got hooked on drugs it brings the familiar story up to date. And it also brings up to date the level of brutality because whilst surprisingly Statham only gets a few trademark action scenes the brutality of watching Blitz kill is quite shocking.
The trouble is that whilst on paper "Blitz" works as a movie it doesn't and the biggest problem is that it has no flow. Now director Elliott Lester has given us some great imagery, but the story jumps all over the place introducing us to several characters and sub plots which in trying to service them all makes it end up all over the place. The thing is that all the subplots are important, they feed in to each other and help establish character especially that of Brant who is the tough cop with a good heart. But because they don't always coherently connect as the movie evolves it makes it feel bitty.
Now whilst for Jason Statham fans "Blitz" may be a bit of a disappointment as there is so little of his trademark action Statham plays his part well. Actually I should say that Statham plays himself well because Tom Brant is basically the persona which Statham has built up over the years of being the tough guy with a good heart. More interesting are the other main characters and Paddy Considine does a really great job of playing Nash as homosexual but without being a cliche. He gives the character this mix of mainly being educated and refined but with just the smallest element of campness which allows him firstly to be openly homosexual but also having a believable dark side. But the scene stealer is Aidan Gillen who makes Blitz a cocky psycho who taunts the police in his open attacks on their colleagues.
What this all boils down to is that "Blitz" could have been a really good update on "Dirty Harry" but unfortunately it ends up disjointed and bitty which makes it at times hard going.
