Copshop (2021) Review

 "Bullets before prayers."
-Officer Valerie Young



Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo) is running for his life from hitmen.  To save himself, he punches a cop, Valerie Young (Alexis Louder), and gets thrown in jail, but that doesn't stop hitman Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler).  Viddick gets himself thrown in jail as well.  Soon the police department finds itself under attack from outside and inside and nobody can trust anybody else if they want to survive.


What Works:

Copshop is a throwback action movie with a very pulpy feel.  The closest comparison I can think of is Assault on Precinct 13.  It nails this style perfectly and hits exactly what it was going for.  If you the premise of the film interested you, I think you will like it.

The action is solid across the board.  Sure, it's low budget at times, but it's tense and exciting.  You don't know who is going to bite the dust or when, so it adds some suspense to the sequences.  The 3rd act is especially fun, if a bit cheesy.

The actors all do a good job and even most of the minor characters have their moments.  The police officers really feel like coworkers and you get the sense that most of them like each other.  It feels a little like Brooklyn Nine-Nine at times.

Toby Hess is definitely the best part of the film.  He plays a psychotic hitman and hams it up to 11 the entire time.  He has one moment that falls flat, but the rest of the time he's extremely fun to watch.


What Sucks:

Not all of the humor works here.  I mentioned that Hess has one big moment that falls flat, but that's not all.  The biggest offender is the Chief of the police station.  He's supposed to be a parody of the angry, black police captain, as far as I can tell, but it doesn't work at all

The movie is also full of clichés.  I feel like that was part of the point of the movie, for sure, and it's fun a lot of the time.  But there weren't definitely moments where I think the movie would have been stronger if it had gone for something more original rather than something that has been done a million times.

Finally, I was disappointed that Gerard Butler was underused.  He was definitely the most bland character of the main cast and didn't get to do much.  Most of his best moments were all in the trailer.  He still does a fine job, it's just a bit underwhelming.


Verdict:

Copshop is a fun little movie that is pretty much exactly what you would expect from the trailer.  It's never going to blow your minds with anything new, but it's an entertaining watch and definitely a fun time.  I wish it had gone further to try and do something really cool, but the characters are solid and the action is fun.

 7/10: Good 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Argylle (2024) Review

Image
 "The human skull is shockingly brittle." -Aidan Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas Howard) is a very successful spy novelist.  She draws attention from the espionage community when plot points in her books come true.  When Elly is attacked on a train by a group of spies, she is rescued by another spy, Aidan (Sam Rockwell), who needs her help with his mission and to do that, she needs to write another chapter of her latest book. Spoilers Below.  Go ahead and read on because I don't recommend this movie, but either way, you've been warned. What Works: Argylle has a really fun premise that really works in the first half of the movie.  It's a fish-out-of-water, buddy-cop, spy movie, and it's a blast.  Watching Ellie predict where to go based on what the characters in her books would do is a lot of fun.  It's what the whole movie should have been. The opening sequence follows Agent Argylle (Henry Cavill) on another dangerous mission as he pursues the villainous LaGrang
Read more

Top 10 Movies of 2023

Image
2023 is finally over and it's time for me to put my Top 10 list together.  2023 was definitely a weaker year for movies.  There were definitely some great movies, but there were also plenty of disappointing and bad movies as well.  I still managed to put together a great Top 10 with a couple of worthy contenders that just missed the cut.  Let's take a look! #10. They Cloned Tyrone They Cloned Tyrone is a wild and fun sci-fi tale that takes place in the hood.  A drug dealer, a pimp, and a prostitute discover a cloning conspiracy and the results are intelligent and hilarious.  This is a really smart and funny movie with some amazing performances across the board.  This was a movie that kept me guessing the whole way through.  What an absolute blast. #9. Renfield I'm guessing Renfield will be the most controversial entry on my list as I feel like I'm the only person who liked this movie.  I love the old Universal monster movies and the fact that we get a direct sequel, whi
Read more

Madame Web (2024) Review

Image
 "When you take on the responsibility, great power will come." -Santiago Cassie Webb (Dakota Johnson), a New York paramedic, hits her head in an accident, which unlocks the ability to see glimpses of the future.  When she sees Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) attempting to murder three teenage girls, Cassie intervenes to save them.  As Cassie learns to understand her power, she also discovers the connection between her, the girls, and Ezekiel. What Works: I think the core idea at the center of this movie is a good one and has the potential to be interesting.  Cassie's superpowers are kinda lame.  It's not like they're going to help in a combat situation.  Ezekiel is basically evil Spider-Man.  He has legitimate powers and is a massive threat.  That's an interesting conflict.  How does someone with lackluster superpowers take on a supervillain.  It's a fun idea that I would like to see tried again with greater success.  What Sucks: This movie was embarrassing to
Read more