More training needed...

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2004)

I found this film a let-down from the beginning. I find it strange that Denzel Washington should have won an oscar for what is basically a one-dimensional character anyone could have played in their sleep. I found him very annoying throughout the movie, (which is partly the idea, I am aware) but when a character becomes so tiresome that you're tempted to switch off, you know that the filmmakers are in trouble. As for Hawk, he is given woefully little material to work with but in fact ends up giving a more impressive performance than Washington - I think he presented his own spiral into the seedy underworld or corrupt cops and his subsequent disillusionment very well (even if the goatee was a mistake...) On the plus side, I would say that the film's final act is genuinely gripping despite frequent lapses into mindless "beat-em-up" mode. It is, however, hopelessly macho in almost all respects and inexplicable cameos by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg and Macy Gray reveal that this is a film about surface not substance. I can't see much in it to raise it above any other simple action "good cop, bad cop" fare.