Thursday , March 28 2024
An edgy, dark police procedural that delivers.

Blu-ray Review: Blitz (2011)

He’s got his black shirt on. He’s got his black gloves on. He’s got his ski mask on; yup, that shit’s been too long. He’s a cop-killer — and he’s loose on the streets of London in this gritty low-budget British crime drama starring Jason Statham, who, once again, does what he does best: kicks the shit out of people and spouts out one smart-ass line after another.

And, while the fact that Statham’s various onscreen personas all seem to blend in and get somewhat smudged together after a bit, his typecasting actually comes in handy once for a change.

Detective Sergeant Brant (Statham) isn’t the police department’s knight in shining armor. In fact, he’s a walking PR nightmare; assaulting young thugs with hurling sticks and climbing further down into the whiskey bottle of life in the process. His superiors convinced he’s cracking, but his abusive behavior takes a backseat once a vengeful brute (Aiden Gillen) starts targeting police officers: including many of Brant’s colleagues.

Meanwhile, Brant attempts to help out a young PC (Zawe Ashton) who’s attempting to pass her Sergeant’s exam; he also befriends a newly-transferred inspector (Paddy Considine) — who isn’t exactly a hit with the rest of the station as he’s gay — and discovers they have more in common than anyone would think.

Presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio, the 1080p MPEG-4/AVC transfer on Blitz has a lot of grain goin’ about it, though it’s more-than-likely deliberate considering the film’s subject matter. That said, the video quality is quite nice, sporting strong colors, detail and contrast.

The accompanying DTS-HD MA 5.1 English audio track also delivers; imbibing the many sounds of South East London and reproducing them adequately. English (SDH) and Spanish subtitles are available, and the disc also comes with a handful of special features, including cast/crew interviews, a behind-the-scenes featurette and the original UK theatrical trailer.

As a rock’em sock’em Jason Statham flick, Blitz might not fulfill the fantasies a lot of folks tend to expect. As an edgy, dark police procedural, however — one that has more than just a single dimension (or character) — it delivers, and has an ultimately-satisfying conclusion to boot.

Check it out.

About Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the alter-ego of a feller who loves an eclectic variety of classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) film and television. He currently lives in Northern California with four cats named Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Margaret. Seriously.

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