Spike TV’s new original scripted series, The Kill Point, stars actors John Leguizamo and Donnie Wahlberg on opposing sides of the law. The eight-hour series, which premiered on Spike TV on Sunday, July 22 from 9 to 11 p.m. ET/PT, was created by James DeMonaco (Assault on Precinct 13 and The Negotiator) and is directed by Steve Shill (Showtime’s The Tudors).
The plot of Kill Point centers around a bank heist gone wrong and the hostage negotiations that inevitably ensue. Leguizamo, who is clearly leading the robbers and is referred to as “Sergeant”, is accompanied by a crew of men with the nicknames “Cat,” “Mouse,” “Pig,” and “Rabbit.”
When Sergeant makes a public statement, on camera and in front of the gathering crowd outside the bank, detailing his demands, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary bank robbery, and this is no ordinary group of robbers. They are in fact American Iraq War veterans.
While the subject matter is heavy, dealing with post-war veterans, politics, and societal views on war/veterans, there are moments of humor woven throughout the show, such as when two co-workers decide to have sex in a closet in the bank and end up hiding in said closet during the robbery (the robbers don’t know they’re in the closet), and then as time passes and nature calls, the woman doesn’t want to pee in front of the guy she just had sex with. Because I guess peeing is too intimate.
Leguizamo’s previous credits include TV’s Miami Vice, ER, and My Name is Earl, and the films Carlito’s Way, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, Summer of Sam, Moulin Rouge!, Assault on Precinct 13, and Land of the Dead. He also won an Emmy, in the category of outstanding performance in a variety or musical program, in 1999 for Freak, his semi-falsified, one-man stand-up performance/autobiographical story.
Donnie Wahlberg’s previous credits include the films Ransom, The Sixth Sense, and more recently horror films Saw 2 and Saw 3, as well as the TV mini-series Band of Brothers and TV’s Boomtown.
The Kill Point takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and infuses quintessential cops and robbers with a political morality play. Part Robin Hood, part Joan of Arc, The Kill Point is an updated take on an old story. The twist here is deciding who to root for, because as of hour two, my sympathies lie with the robbers.
Great acting, particularly on the part of Leguizamo, is sure to make The Kill Point one popular summer series. I already can’t wait to see what happens next.
Article comments
1 - Matt
Good review, but hard to read. You need to work on your use of commas and fix some of those six-line run on sentences.
Ps, this show sounds pretty cool. I'll check it out for sure.
2 - mike
Matt is one of those subject/verb/predicate guys, it seems. I find no run-on sentences or problems with commas. And I was the English teacher from hell.
3 - writnkitten
thanks mike! yes, i think it's more of a stylistic thing. i tend to write more conversational than "proper" and that's the first complaint i've ever received. considering the fact that i make a living writing the way that i do, i'm not about to change. :)
4 - Tman
Great review!
I saw about 40 mins of the show last night but I guess I was watching the re-run right after and it just got too late to watch the whole thing.
I'm definitely hoping to catch the rest of what happened sometime soon and I'm looking forward to seeing the next episode for what happens next.
5 - Don
First neither the cops nor the soldiers turn bank robbers can hit the side of the barn with their assault rifles, shotguns, etc... It brought back unpleasant memories of the A-Team. Even the SWAT team can't shoot accurately. I finally tuned out permanently when the robber gang leader came outside to meet with the Police Captain in public and was allowed to give a speech to the crowd, including cops pointing their guns at him. I am sick and tired of Hollywood depicting Iraq veterans with psychological problems and turning to crime. I served in Iraq and I'm perfectly normal. Got an original idea???
6 - Jer
First of all if you watch the whole thing again you can see that during most of the shooting that both the robbers and the police did not have clean firing lines on each other. This is most prominent in the scene where the swat storm the back hall. Each man is popping in and out and firing when there is no clean line of fire on him. This fire is supposed to supress people, to get them to duck. The one person who was killed (last swat member in the hall) was killed when the robber who was giving pinning down the swat members allowed another robber to reposition and get a clean firing line on the last swat member and thus resulting in a kill. If one has picked up a gun and went to a competitive shooting range one would figure out that shooting on the run is very hard and is very stressful. There are no 1 shot 1 kill situations. If anyone that is reading this palys airsoft or paintball they will know that most kills come from supressing down a person with fire and then having somone else shift position and get a clean firing line. Real gun battles are not a clean artform (excluding extended range marksmenship, sniping). Watch a video (not hollywood) of any real unit fighting in any war, there are rarley and clean 1 shot 1 kill situations and there is a lot of firing of guns just to get heads to go down.
7 - Jer
*Edit*
Watch a video (not hollywood) of any real unit fighting in any war, there are rarley any clean 1 shot 1 kill situations and there is a lot of firing of guns just to get heads to go down.
Typed and instead of any, silly me.
8 - Sandra
Get show!!