Street Kings 2: Motor City (Video 2011)

Motor City moves the action to Michigan and explores the world of dirty cops on the violent streets of Detroit.

Director:

Chris Fisher

Writers:

Ed Gonzalez, Jeremy Haft

Stars:

Ray Liotta, Clifton Powell, Kevin Chapman

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ray Liotta	...	Marty Kingston
Clifton Powell	...	Det. Tyrone Fowler
Kevin Chapman	...	Detective Jimmy Rogan
Inbar Lavi	...	Leilah Sullivan
Charlotte Ross	...	Beth Kingston
Stephanie Cotton	...	Sonyia Rogan
Linda Boston	...	Captain Walker
Corey Emanuel Wilson	...	Bones
Jack Moore	...	Sergeant Harrison Clark
Tiren Jhames	...	Lloyd Shunt
Tim Holmes	...	Mikey
Joe Tinpan	...	Omid
Sidi Henderson	...	Chief Lab Tech
Otis Youngsmith	...	Hank
Ele Bardha	...	Sgt. Tomic

Storyline

Motor City moves the action to Michigan and explores the world of dirty cops on the violent streets of Detroit.

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Plot Keywords:

reference to jesse james | neck breaking | detroit michigan | revenge | police corruption | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language, some sexual content/nudity and brief drug use

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 April 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Au bout de la nuit 2

Filming Locations:

Detroit Masonic Temple, Detroit, Michigan, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Silver Nitrate

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Upon seeing Marty's revolver, Jimmy says that Jesse James had one of those at the OK Corral. Jesse James wasn't at the OK Corral. At least not famously.

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Connections

Follows Street Kings (2008)

User Reviews

A poor in-name only sequel to the David Ayer original

Cop thrillers are a dime-and-dozen- probably because it doesn't cost too much to make one, and the fact that we can't help but be intrigued by our men-in-blue. The latter is probably also the reason why most cop thrillers inevitably revolve around the theme of corruption, since the very nature of dirty cops goes against our very intuition of the kind of people we want enforcing law and order on our streets.

David Ayer's 'Street Kings' was no different- it packed the grittiness that has become a prerequisite for the modern-day cop thriller, and it had a compelling plot courtesy of star writers James Ellroy (L.A. Confidential) and Kurt Wimmer (Law Abiding Citizen, Salt). This direct- to-video in-name only sequel however tries very hard to be gritty, but the lack of a gripping plot- written by newbies Ed Gonzalez and Jeremy Haft- means that it comes apart pretty quickly.

Once again, this sequel pairs a clean-cut rookie (Keanu Reeves in the former; Shawn Hatosy in this movie) with a veteran cop (Forest Whitaker in the former; Ray Liotta in this movie), with the veteran teaching the rookie the ways by which cops on the beat go about their business- even if it means taking a little on the side, or turning a blind eye. Here, Hatosy's rookie is a certain Dan Sullivan who is assigned to work with Liotta's Marty Kingston after a Narcotics cop is gunned down in cold blood.

The case intensifies after two other cops, both Narcotics officers and former partners of Kingston, also turn up dead. If you're guessing if the killer is a cop or a thug, don't bother- Gonzalez and Haft seem to have so little confidence in their story that they reveal who the killer is just half an hour into the movie. Of course, it really isn't much of a surprise too- but the revelation still deflates much of the suspense that should accompany a movie like this.

Indeed, once we know the killer's identity, it's only a matter of time before Sullivan puts the pieces together and tracks him down. Director Chris Fisher tries to make this about the dilemma Sullivan faces taking down one of his own, but the attempt at injecting complexity into the mostly perfunctory proceedings is hardly engaging enough. And since the characters aren't fleshed out properly, even the ending- which retains the original's irony- comes across limp and uninspired.

The performances here are mostly just mediocre- Liotta has been in so many such genre stuff that he seems content to just sleepwalk through the role; while Hatosy is passable as the rookie forced to learn the ropes the tough way. And besides them, the rest of the supporting cast including Clifton Powell and Kevin Chapman as Kingston's former partners are mostly wasted.

While 'Street Kings' was a sufficiently gripping cop thriller, this sequel is no more than a run-of-the-mill addition to the genre that will quickly be forgotten- after all, you will probably get the same and more in an episode of 'Law and Order' or 'The Shield' on TV. Even with lowered expectations for direct-to-video sequels, this is still a disappointing attempt at trying to replicate the success of its modestly successful predecessor.

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