Training Day Review

Rating: 7/10 (20 June 2010)

Director Antoine Fuqua did Training Day justice in this crime drama. The story starts as a rookie narcotics officer Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) first day with a corrupt veteran detective Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). Jake is stunned by the methods that Det. Alonzo uses in his daily routine. Because Jake wants to become narcotics office he follows Alonzo instructions. As the story unfolds it is found out that Alonzo is in debt with the Russian mob and they have a deadline on when he must pay them back or he will be killed. This causes Jake to be thrust into Alonzo world of using drugs, stealing, and even killing.
This film is centered on the theme good versus evil. Jake is the naive rookie narcotics officer trying to bring down the overbearing corrupt veteran detective Alonzo Harris. The cinematography was great in showing this. The camera angles and lighting were great for the fact that it showed the desperate measure that Alonzo was willing to through in order to pay back the money and save his life.
A few scenes stood out as very powerful scenes in the movie. In the beginning of the movie Alonzo with a gun forced Jake to smoke PCP. Little did Jake know that this was part of a big plan Alonzo created to get out of debt. The use of slow motion was awesome as Jake smoked the PCP. There was also the use of different colors in the lighting. It showed how zoned out Jake was. Another scene in Training Day was where Alonzo was cornered by the Russian mob there was misty fog. The lighting was very dim and then the gun shots rang out. Hundreds of bullets were let off. This was a very powerful scene in the movie.
This is a great must see movie. Highly recommended.