Watch it for Washington's performance; some well made, unpredictable scenes and let it just draw you in.

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2007)

What we have with Training Day is a big mixture of: gangster, crime, cop/buddy and something close to resembling a ghetto drama all in one. Needless to say that all these aspects of the film work together in a reasonably effective way which, in the end, leaves you feeling satisfied. There are individual strokes of greatness but these are limited to things like Denzil Washington's performance who reminded me of a Wesley Snipes character out of something like 'New Jack City' (1991). There is also the element of unpredictability for the best part as relative rookie Jake (Hawke) gets put through some pretty harsh paces for the first forty minutes or so.
I came away from Training Day liking it overall but there were some distinct things that had me thinking to myself 'Yeah, I see exactly what they're trying to do here.' And this is relatable to the 'buddy/cop' sequence. Jake and Alonzo (Washington) are the absolute binary opposites of one another: you couldn't get two more different characters. One is a 'desk' cop who books illegally parked cars and probably takes the odd trip to the doughnut shop one too many times (although his build doesn't suggest this) whereas Alonzo is one of those cops you see in films and if you were ever going to become a law enforcer, you'd want to live their lifestyle: guns, girls and plenty of softly earned drug money. Although this is nothing new, it was refreshing to see it done in an unpredictable manner and of course, Washington's performance sees it out.
Secondly, the way in which each character acts  Jake seems sharper and wants to do everything by the book whereas Alonzo's methods include something more reminiscent of: instead of arresting two rapists, just threaten in an extreme manner to shoot their genitalia off if they catch them doing it again and let them go. Jake even talks and dresses differently and of course, Ethan Hawke is a white Caucasian American  Washington is coloured so these two characters make for great entertainment in an easily explosive situation when you've got two people so different in looks and lifestyles.
Thanks to some good film-making, certain situations of tension and spontaneity happen and are carried out well. These situations are also very awkward and since we're supposed to map onto the character of Jake more so than Alonzo, we do sort of feel what he's feeling  again, this is thanks to Washington's amazing performance; especially when he either forces Jake to take a smoke of some drugs or when someone is unexpectedly shot and Jake is panting heavily or even when they drive though a bad neighbourhood and Alonzo states: 'Don't you ever come here without me' as black ghetto gangsters eye up the vehicle. Although this manipulates our opinions on Jake as a bit of a wimp and further makes us think Alonzo is sort of invincible, the payoff for thinking these things is great  the filmmakers make us think of one thing so much that all the odds seemed stacked against us later on.
What was also clever is the way in which the film can change so dramatically  although not entirely realistic all the time, one situation or setting can very quickly change in an instant. This could include when Jake is in big trouble with some Mexican gangsters but gets out of jail thanks to a previous deed that he did. Although this was a bit of a fluke, it would still be possible in the tightly knitted world of crime that particular city possesses. Although these changes are unpredictable and entertaining, lines must be drawn somewhere especially in which the finale is played out: where several characters seem to switch sides to team up with a guy who they've known of for about twelve hours, which was a little unbelievable.
In the long run, Training Day is a very entertaining film that doesn't cover too much ground in terms of innovation or anything deeper than that but it is a clever example of how to suck an audience in and play with them later on.