Finally, a good movie from Antoine

Rating: Null/10 (18 October 2001)

I knew that Antoine Fuqua had a good movie in him. Let's breakdown his career: He directs music videos (most notably, Gangsta's Paradise) then he gets tapped to do an American version of the Hong Kong action film. The Replacement Killers was alright, I suppose, but it certainly didn't live up to its predecessors. Then he gets stuck directing a movie with Jamie Foxx in the lead. That had disaster written all over it (Jamie Foxx is absolutely great in supporting roles). But with Bait, you really could tell that Fuqua had talent, even if the material wasn't good. But now, with Training Day, he's given a prime opportunity to show us what he's made of. And it's clear that he's got a good career ahead of him.
This movie is a real treat in this time of what seems to be one bad movie after another. It's very funny at parts, but not to the point where it's a comedy that gets all serious at the end. Denzel is, of course, great. I really don't understand why people keep making a big deal out of his performance though. Sure, it's the first time he's played a bad guy, but I honestly can't think of one time when he's given a bad performance. He's always great, so this shouldn't be a surprise. What is a surprise is Ethan Hawke. For once he's not playing the brooding, misunderstood guy. He plays this one like it should be and that was the big acting surprise (not seeing Dr. Dre as a cop).
Normally, when a movie has a revelation towards the end, it changes your whole viewpoint on what happened earlier. But, without giving away anything, with this movie, it just makes you uneasy about the events that are to come. I've also read a few people talking about how the very end is a little hard to swallow. It makes perfect sense if you really paid attention to the rest of the movie. And I'm not talking about "if you blink, you miss the key point of information." This film is about setting a certain mood and state of mind. Both from the director and from the characters. If you let yourself get into it, the whole movie is a really great experience.
Like I said before, this movie is very funny. But the action in it is some of the best in a while too. It's not all about special effects and messing with your visual perspective. Most of the action is shot in a way that allows you to follow it from start to finish.
I loved the cameos too: Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Macy Gray, Tom Berenger, and that guy who played Redbud in The Usual Suspects. They were fun, but not distracting. Overall, I guess the movie does have it's flaws; it does seem to drag a little in parts. But it is still a great movie worth watching. While this is Antoine Fuqua's first really good movie, I hope he now has the ability to get better and better projects. I've never ended a review with a pun before so I won't call his first two movies training days. That would just be wrong.