The Movie: Copshop
The Director: Joe Carnahan
The Cast: Gerard Butler, Frank Grillo, Alexis Louder
The Story: On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station—but when the hitman turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs.
The Review:
This movie absolutely feels like a Joe Carnahan movie. It's brash, it's bold, it's bloody, it's brutal, and it's a lot of fun. I have been a fan of Carnahan's work going back to Smokin' Aces, The Grey, and The A-Team which for me is one of the most underrated action movies of the last several years. Carnahan has a style and attitude to his films that is kind of a throwback to the fun of 80's action movies yet always feels very fresh and edgy. Another thing I loved about this movie is it has a bit of a Tarantino vibe to it I think partly because it's mostly contained to a single location and there's a strong emphasis on character interaction.
The cast for the characters in this movie is pretty much perfect and every actor matches the energy and vibe of the overall production which gives it a very consistent and cohesive vibe. It actually took me a minute to recognize frank Grillo which is weird because he's a very recognizable person but his look for this movie is a little different than we normally see. Gerard Butler on the other hand is pretty much the Gerard Butler that we know and love although he gets to ham it up a bit as a villainous hitman.
Even with those two headlining the show, the real star of the movie for me is Alexis Louder who takes on the resilient and determined officer Valerie Young. She is about as badass as you would want the hero to be in this story and her character goes through a heck of a lot before it's all said and done. We are also gifted with a brilliantly fun performance from Toby Huss as he goes all in as another hitman although a much more deranged and sociopathic one than Butler's character. I guess that's an interesting curve to be grading on as I would imagine that most if not all hitmen are somewhat deranged and sociopathic.
If I was to point out any faults about the movie, I would say it is a bit predictable and a few scenes are a bit derivative of the types of movies that it is trying to fit in with. Also, for my tastes specifically, I would have liked to have seen Carnahan push the violence and other extreme aspects a little farther but I'm also wondering if the director held back a bit in the event that he gets to explore this world further. The end of the movie does leave some things open although there is still a very satisfying conclusion so, whether we do get to see more or not, it still stands on its own.
The Verdict:
Copshop is a brutally fun shoot em up style action thriller filled with crazy characters who are all out to kill each other. Alexis Louder leads the way alongside a killer cast and another quality production from Joe Carnahan.
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