A story about a cop who has no restraint and a disregard for the rules, a cop killer who breaks all the rules. Sounds like any other typical rogue cop story. Blitz isn’t one of those movies. Adapted from a novel by author Ken Bruen who also penned London Boulevard. The screenplay was written by Nathan Parker, the man behind the highly acclaimed Moon. With this winning team it is no wonder director Elliot Lester managed to create something unique.
Jason Statham plays the hard-as-nails, slightly crazed, police officer that may enjoy serving justice a bit too much. As a polar opposite to his character, there is Paddy Considine who plays a straight-laced police officer. They work together as what seems like an unlikely pair to bring down Aiden Giles playing the titular character Blitz. Giles plays the villain who always seems one step ahead even when he is arrested and, when there is no evidence on the slimy bugger, he gets away with it. He has more plans though. In a final twist the cop killer gets a taste of his own medicine in a police officer’s uniform.
Statham plays a much edgier but similar character that has been seen from him before. His hard man character delivers the tough talk that is associated with all his other roles. After seeing this it would be hard to imagine him playing anything else. Considine, a truly under-rated British actor, delivers another amazing performance and his part may not have been as large as people would like. Giles plays the psychotic killer flawlessly and almost steals the show from Statham bit nothing can beat the Statham character we all enjoy seeing him play. Giles’s performance stands out as the villain with an almost Joker-like intelligence and, when combined with his lunacy, he causes havoc and almost gets away with it.
In this British movie that looks like it can easily tango with the Hollywood actioners, the audience gets to experience how well British cinema can create an action-packed movie. The sets are all very British – the film is set in South London and the characters involved are the same. The use of multiple characters creates a larger pool of entertainment, too, from the Irish snitch who is crazy to the mosey reporter. All the characters seem to be typical of a film following this story but the twists, as well as the way the characters act, set this apart from other similar movies.
It has less gloss, glamour and choreography than its Hollywood counterparts but Blitz is a movie any action fan can enjoy.
Best performance: Aiden Giles.
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