BLITZ (Maple, 2011) D: Elliott Lester, w/ Jason Statham, Aidan Gillen. Rating: NNN Blu-ray package: NN Rating: NNN
This isn’t your usual Jason Statham movie. Cars don’t crash. Nothing blows up. Fights aren’t epic, and the star’s not a killing machine. He’s a detective trying to get evidence on a serial killer who targets cops. Some brutality is involved.
On one level, Blitz is a Dirty Harry knock-off, but the two films are from completely different moral and aesthetic universes, and here the hero has a rather different relationship with his employers, which gives the climax a jolt all its own.
As an actor, Statham looks uncomfortable in the softer scenes, which fits the character. Far better are Aidan Gillen as the titular murderer and Paddy Considine, the openly gay cop in charge of the case. Both make unusual choices to give depth to their roles.
Blitz isn’t visually splashy, but the story and sudden eruptions of violence lend it a fair amount of tension.
You’ll find a few character insights in the cast and crew interviews but nothing noteworthy in the on-set footage.
EXTRAS Cast and crew interviews, on-set footage. Widescreen. English, French audio. English, Spanish subtitles.
