Street Kings, by James Ellroy and others - Seven out of 10

Street Kings, by James Ellroy and others

Seven out of 10

Street Kings reminds one of scenes from Payback with Mel Gibson, Unforgiven with ( and directed by) Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman, Death Wish and other much better motion pictures.

Alas, even if we can see Keanu Reeves (a very talented actor that seems to have renounced the glamour of Hollywood and the life of a celebrity, to live as a normal human being in new York), the Academy Award winner and phenomenal artist Forest Whitaker and last, but in no way the least the great Hugh Laurie, Cedric the Entertainer and Chris Evans, this feature is a forgettable experience.

We have some interesting angles from which the film was shot, plenty of action to keep a viewer watching, surprises in the plot, but the final product does not reach the level of the aforementioned dramas and others like them.

Keanu Reeves plays detective Tom Ludlow, a rather complicated main character, with fabulous achievements under his belt, but also the man who drinks while driving and shoots villains in revenge, obviously extra judicially.

He faces an investigation regarding a shootout in which criminals are killed by him, following a vicious interaction, a transaction in which the undercover detective was supposed to provide weapons, including machine guns to these thugs.

They beat him up, affronted by Ludlow’s use of Konichiwa, which is more like an insult, given the fact that the mobsters are Korean and Konichiwa is Japanese and the two peoples share a history in which they have been fighting each other, Japan having occupied Korea, tormenting the population and more.

Indeed, to this day, they have unresolved issues and animosity is often at a peak, because of the issue of the “comfort women”, unfortunate women who have been taken in a sort of slavery and then terribly exploited as sex slaves.

There is also the problem of disputed territory, islands that both countries claim as their own.

The police officer is hit repeatedly and beaten by the Asian gangsters, who send him to the ground and then shout Konichiwa to him.

They will pay dearly for this and their evidently long history of violence, terror and murders, for they will die soon, eliminated by an undercover officer who should obey the law, but instead takes it into his own hands.

In his defense though, two young girls are liberated because of the brutal action of Tom Ludlow and this makes him a sort of a hero.

Detective Terrence Washington is a critic and apparently a serious adversary for the flawed hero and when the former happens to arrive at a grocery store, Tom Ludlow is apparently ready for a new confrontation.

Nevertheless, while Terrence Washington is already inside the shop, a car with two men is driving by and the two individuals, wearing scarfs that cover most of their faces, enter the same store.

The hero understands this is a dangerous, potentially tragic situation and tries to warn his foe, who thinks this is just another clash between them and while they argue, the two killers come close and shoot Terrence Washington multiple times, using machine guns.

While Tom Ludlow is recovering in the hospital where his girlfriend works, an unknown man asks him if he is not the famous cop who had freed the two girls, acting as if he is not sure and does not know the story except from the news…

While he is putting on this performance, a police detective comes close and calls him captain, ending the pretense and making Ludlow and the audience understands that this was a trick and a potential trap.

Captain James Biggs aka Hugh Laurie is investigating the homicide case and he has been at odds for a long time with Captain Jack Wander aka Forest Whitaker and his team that is suspected of criminal acts.

There are elements that will keep a viewer interested in finding out who the good hombres are and where the corruption lies, but it is not a very satisfying motion picture.

Perhaps the remarkable group of actors would have benefited from a different director, who could have made this film a more rewarding feature.