Blitz (2011)

A tough cop is dispatched to take down a serial killer who has been targeting police officers.

Director:

Elliott Lester

Writers:

Nathan Parker (screenplay), Ken Bruen (novel)

Stars:

Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jason Statham	...	Brant
Paddy Considine	...	Nash
Aidan Gillen	...	Weiss
Zawe Ashton	...	Falls
David Morrissey	...	Dunlop
Ned Dennehy	...	Radnor
Mark Rylance	...	Roberts
Luke Evans	...	Stokes
Nicky Henson	...	Superintendent Brown
Steven Harwood-Brown	...	Metal (as Steven Harwood Brown)
Bill Champion	...	Dr. Leonard
Richard Riddell	...	McDonald
Ron Donachie	...	Cross
Elly Fairman	...	Sandra (as Ellie Fairman)
Alex Lanipekun	...	Precocious PC

Storyline

Detective Sergeant Tom Brant who is dispatched to take down a serial killer hell bent on killing off the police force one by one. "The Blitz" manages to slip through the grasp of Tom every time, and with the precious lives of his colleagues diminishing one by one, Tom is led to the question: if we can't protect our own, then what good are we?

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Plot Keywords:

hare krishna | serial killer | lawyer | blood splatter | pubic hair | 

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Taglines:

It's cop-killer versus killer-cop.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong brutal violence, language, some drug use and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

UK France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 2011 (UK)

Also Known As:

Blic

Filming Locations:

Balfron Tower, London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£266,148 (United Kingdom), 20 May 2011, Limited Release

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,774,948, 31 December 2011

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate,Davis-Films,Current Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First film starring Jason Statham and Luke Evans together. They will later play brothers in the Fast and Furious series.

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Goofs

When Porter Nash is introduced to the force, the Superintendent lifts up a newspaper explaining that they are already under a media frenzy. The newspaper says that a second officer has already been shot dead before it actually happens in the film and the photo features a man, when the first officer to be shot was a woman.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Brant: There he is. There's Breckney. Get an appetite...
[releases dogs]
Dunlop: [running] Whoa! Aaah! Get... Get away! Get them away!

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: Review of 2011 (2012)

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Soundtracks

I Know Its You
Performed by DJ MADD
Written by Simon
Published by Copyright Control
Licensed Courtesy of Boka

User Reviews

Coppers disconnect

English bobbies never have it easy. Especially in South London, where crime is unfocused and crude. Stress levels escalate, when a serial cop killer starts roaming the streets capping seemingly random coppers to his ever-growing collection. The local Dirty Harry - the crass, foul mouth and incessantly drinking at pubs while on duty DS Tom Brant (Jason Statham) gets recalled to service - after being recently suspended for a bout of vigilantism against a adolescent trio of car thieves. Despite apparent burnout Brant intends to pull through and implement some well-deserved on the murderer - one despondent psycho with severe remorse towards the bobby community Barry Weiss (Aidan Gillen). Together with new super intendant and privately queer Porter Nash (Paddy Considine) the net quickly tightens around the neck of postal Londoner...

Verging on some commentary on violence, which ventures somewhere along the lines of Dirty Harry type justice, director Elliott Lester attempts to instill a more sincere down-to-earth feeling. The criminal is far from brilliant, at times bumbling, but still managing to keep ahead of the even more incompetent London bobbies. Aidan Gillen's character falls to close to the Scorpio Killer, once again inducing a sense of kinship with the aged Eastwood classic. Nonetheless Jason Statham, basically a one role actor, fails to overreach into more dramatic territory, feeling much better in tune with crass one-liners and his general tough guy persona, making all attempts to diverge sound weirdly contrived. Together with a disinterested Considine and rather rough performances by other cast "Blitz" feels overwhelmingly hollow with any potential comment crudely covered by plodding story-build and uninspired writing.

The movie also features some of the worst procedural cop drama on celluloid, but then again maybe this is owed to overly perfect portrayals of criminal persecution in the United States? Having just one suspect the London police fronted by Brant and Nash fail to put him under surveillance or even bring him in for questioning, instead allowing Blitz to strike again. Police folly follows suit when they are unable to keep the suspect locked up due to lack of evidence - despite one police woman seeing the culprit murder a boy with her own eyes. Uneven, unfocused and clearly in search of better scripting "Blitz" attempts to connect a more dramatically induced thriller with a typical Statham adrenaline rush, wholly failing on both counts.