Copshop

I was pleased with how this movie was written, I feel it had a great flow and the character building was strong and effective. Joe Carnahan did a great job keeping the watcher interested with both visual and verbal chemistry.

The movie flipped around kind of like Tarantino flips around.

Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo and Alexis Louder add did a great job portraying thier very complex characters. Toby Huss was an added bonus, he does "crazy" very well.

From the very start, the movie takes turns and creates complexity that you can't wait to figure out. When it finally all comes to play, you are in the middle of a roller coaster ride of action and violence comparable to Reservoir Dogs.

While the story didn't leave me guessing for too long, I feel the action, acting and plot were enough to warrant a strong watch.

I was hoping for this to be a decent little thriller but I was a bit disappointed by the end. It has a good set up and scenario and the action when it hits is well portrayed, but it's overlong and just too drawn out for what it is. The snappy dialogue is too sub-Tarantino at times and there are long stretches that don't move the plot forward; in particular, the last half hour just seems to endlessly stretch out to no avail. It should have been better.

Grillo, Butler and Louder gave outstanding performances, and although the satirical writing was entertaining, this would've been much better if the story were taken more serious.

Then there's the even bigger issue of the huge hole left in the story, the one which didn't explain any of the twists and turns. It's almost as if the dog ate pages from the middle of the screenplay.

For the 107 minute runtime, there wasn't enough substance. Either lots of minutes needed to be trimmed down, or preferably, more backstory/substance written in. It felt like the story was more about Louder's character, and we're supposed to ignore why the things that are happening to her, are happening.

It's a shame no one picked up on these huge issues, because the directing was excellent, as was the cinematography, score and gore effects. Its a good one-time watch, and thus a 7/10 from me.

Copshop was a surprisingly good action film from start to finish. Director Joe Carnahan know's how to craft a good action movie and does so very well here. Alexis Louder really shines as the standout here and is fun to watch in every scene. Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler are also really good here. In fact this may be some of Gerard Butler's best work in a while. The story is pretty easy to follow here and won't win any awards for best screenplay. Still the action and the dialogue are very entertaining. The movie also flys by fast with a very nice runtime. I really enjoyed Copshop and I know action fans will enjoy it as well. Copshop gets a solid 7 stars out of 10 from me.

I see what they were going for here. I don't think they succeeded. If they had, this would have been my kind of movie. But something always feels off or unnatural.

For me, the movie maxes out at "pretty good," goes as low as "kind of stupid," with the bulk of the movie being mediocre. Overall, it's fine. (1 viewing, 1/30/2022)