Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Fox Home Entertainment– 109 minutes – 2008 – Rated R – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – DTS HD 5.1 Lossless Audio

The 2001 film Training Day was a huge hit, not only because it tackled the issue of police corruption in LA, but mainly because of Denzel Washington’s standout performance as a dirty cop with no control of his demons. Hoping that lightning would strike twice, David Ayer, who wrote Training Day, this time steps behind the camera to direct Street Kings, based on a screenplay by James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential), where the subject is once again is corruption in the LA police department. Street Kings is now available on Blu-ray high-definition from Fox Home Entertainment, but those expecting the same fire that made Training Day ignite, may be somewhat disappointed because something went wrong this time.

THE MOVIE

Street Kings, stars Keanu Reeves Detective Tom Ludlow, a cop with a pile of skeletons in his closet, but he’s not as corrupt as most of the other cops in his circle. Ludlow becomes a hero when he rescues some kids who were abducted, but as he is being praised for his efforts, his past comes back to haunt him when he learns that his former partner, Detective Washington (Terry Crews), is about to talk to Internal Affairs about some things he didn’t want getting out. Ludlow turns to Captain Jack Wander (Forest Whitaker), who tells him to just lay low and he’ll handle the situation. But Ludlow takes matters in his own hands to face Washington himself, only to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, as Washington is gunned down by masked thugs, and Ludlow is stuck right in the middle of it.

Captain Wander assists Ludlow by giving him the disc from the convenience store that recorded Washington’s death and tells him to destroy it while he fixes the situation. Stubborn, Ludlow takes it upon himself to find out who killed his ex-partner, and teams up with a homicide officer, Detective Diskant (Chris Evans), who both dive into the shady world of LA’s gang-bangers and dirty cops, looking to find some answers that will finally bring justice to the crime.

On the surface the plot of Street Kings sounds like it has the settings for a solid story, but it’s in the execution that things begin to fall apart piece by piece. The main issue is the very odd casting, such as Keanu Reeves. Hey, I like Keanu, and he was perfect in Speed, Point Break, and The Matrix, but he doesn’t have the edge it takes to take on a role like this. He’s just too much of a nice guy and you could never see him doing the wrong thing. Going back to Training Day, Denzel Washington was believable because his character was so maniacal that every crazy thing he did was acceptable (and let’s face it, Denzel is a better actor). Reeves is trying hard, and maybe if this film was made by a more seasoned director, they would have pushed a better performance out of him. As he is portrayed in the movie, Reeve’s character would never make it on the streets of LA, because they would eat him alive.

Forest Whitaker as Captain Wander also seems to be miscast, because we all know that Whitaker can act and has an Oscar to prove it, but in this movie he seems to be phoning it in. He’s literally just saying his lines on queue with no real passion that he normally inserts into his performances. And being that all films nowadays have to include a comedian and some rappers, Street Kings has Cedric the Entertainer as a fast-talking hustler; while Common and The Game play lethal criminals. The only two performances that actually work are Chris Evans as Detective Diskant, because he plays the role as a naïve cop who hasn’t seen much action, and Hugh Laurie (from the TV show House), as and Internal Affairs officer who is seeking out corrupt police.

There are set-ups for what could have been various good scenes, but when the spark is introduced the fire never erupts; instead there are just a bunch of exaggerated shoot-outs that attempt to be shocking and graphic, but are just there to cover up plot holes. After watching movies about police corruption like The Departed, or even the HBO show The Wire, Street Kings just doesn’t deliver the goods. It makes for a decent rental, but after the credits roll you most likely won’t have any desire to re-watch it, and no scene or performance will stay with you. I’m just curious what this film would have evolved into if another director was behind it, because all the ingredients are there, it just wasn’t cooked correctly.

VIDEO

Street Kings is a very L.A. film, right down to its photography style. This Blu-ray offers a 1080p resolution with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio that looks great. In many ways it may remind you of the look many action films set in L.A. during the 80’s had, such as the original Lethal Weapon. The heat of the beaming sun is always emphasized both as a look as well as a metaphor for the tension the characters are faced with. Skin tones look good and stay even in both day and night scenes. There are hints of grain present in darker areas, but overall this is a solid transfer.

AUDIO

Pumping out a DTS-HD Lossless Master 5.1 audio mix, Street Kings will make it seem like gang-bangers are in your house. Even though the film attempts to be more of a drama than an action film, whenever the action scenes occur just listen to how the gunshots have been enhanced so that a handgun sounds like a cannon has been fired. Dialogue sounds clear even when characters are talking over each other; and the ambient tones of the city of L.A. sound authentic enough to draw you in. As far as sound goes, this one is a winner.

EXTRAS

There’s a basic offering of bonus features on the disc (audio commentary, making of, deleted scenes, etc) and a Digital Copy is available to download for your portable device.

Director David Ayer’s audio commentary goes into a lot of details, such as adapting James Ellroy’s story for the screen, getting the ensemble cast and trying to make the film authentic to the LA street scene.

There are fifteen deleted scenes that run about twenty minutes. There’s nothing here that changes the film in any way, but you have the option to hear David Ayer’s comments on why the scenes were removed.

‘City of Fallen Angels’ is your basic HBO First Look segment that sets the film up to be the best thing since sliced bread.

‘L.A. Bete Noir: Writing Street Kings’ is a quick five minute look at how the script for Street Kings was originally written, and compares it the final version.

‘Street Cred’ is a five-minute segment that goes into the real world of crime of the streets of L.A.

There are various behind the scenes clips that go into training the actors how to look like cops, bullets hits with squibs, and various other elements that were squeezed together to give you a sense of what it was like on the set.

‘Street Rules: Rolling with David Ayer and Jaime Fitzsimmons is a twenty minute guided tour of the streets of L.A. with the director and one of the stars of the film. This is kind of interesting because they show you how things used to be and how much has changed in the world of cops vs. gang-bangers.

‘Under Surveillance: Inside the World of Street Kings’ is a Picture-In-Picture feature that basically allows interviews and behind the scenes clips to play as your watching the film. Most of the stuff can be viewed in the regular bonus materials, but if you’re Blu-ray player is profile 1.1 enabled, why not take advantage of it.

A Digital Copy is provided so you can download the film and play it on your portable device. It’s a nice extra for those of you who are always on the go.

BOTTOM LINE

Street Kings is not a bad film; it’s just not as hard and edgy as it thinks it is. The Blu-ray offers good picture quality and great sound, and the batch of extras; such as the digital copy, make it worth a look. Street Kings will not have the longevity of films like The Departed or Heat, but if you’re into police dramas Street Kings may have something you’ll like; all others may want to rent it first before deciding if it’s worthy of your collection.

SCORES (out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 3.5

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 3.0

Bottom Line: 3.0