Street Kings 2: Motor City

Street Kings was quite a surprise hit with stellar cast, somewhat intriguing story and very good direction. Motor City on the other hand is just mess. Not that it doesn't give any entertainment. It does. Specially if you are admirer of cheesy B-movies or those direct to DVD thrillers. Motor City is prime example how to exploit far superior hit film's success, when only thing that relates those two movies are just the title. It amazes me how they got Ray Liotta on board? Did they kidnap his daughter? Or just blackmailed him? Incoherent plot, bad dialog, cliché ridden plot twists that were all written by ten year old. Ray Liotta was the strongest part of the whole movie, but he seemed totally uninterested and thus uninteresting to watch. Shawn Hatosy isn't half that bad actor than he looks in Motor City. Probably it has to do something with inconsistent character development.

Oh, there's another connection between two films - Clifton Powell is in both of them. But he plays different characters.

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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Several former undercover cops are killed and Det Dan Sullivan (Hatosy) is suspicious because they were scheduled to talk to IA (Internal Affairs) and he believes someone is covering up something big.

I have no idea why this movie is so over-hyped as being set in Detroit (Motor City). The only things you see re Detroit are empty streets, except for the characters' vehicles, of course. And, most of those scenes are in the very early morning hours. The street scenes could be anywhere in the early morning hours, but they make a big deal for it being in Detroit. Go figure.

With the opening scenes you see who may be the one who is killing all the former undercover cops. So there is no mystery re that. You know who it is. But, the story is in the telling about how Det Sullivan investigates the murders, and it's okay……..well, actually, more like a made-for-TV movie except for the language.

I cannot figure out why Ray Liotta has not received an Oscar. His acting is and has been pure gold throughout the years.

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: Yes, very briefly in the beginning. Language: Yes.

Sure, this story's been told before. Old wine, new bottle. Corrupt cops, veteran cop partnered with first-year cop, Internal Affairs on their tails, and so on and so forth. Nothing original there. Come to think of it, is anything actually "original" anymore these days?? What was refreshing, at least for me, was the setting. Detroit... Motown, Motor City, 2011. Great, great shots of the city from a wide array of angles, including from across the river in Windsor. Just superb. If you've ever lived in Detroit, or even just visited, then you'll see what I mean, especially compared to the mid-70's, when I lived there. And even if you've never been there, what a pleasant treat to watch an action cop flick that wasn't filmed in the same ol same ol: NY, Chicago, or L.A.

The score was excellent as well, and really set the mood. The acting was solid, and Ray Liotta fans won't be disappointed.

If you've got HD and a decent sound system, allow yourself to sit back and be mesmerized, and never mind the hackneyed plot and predictable storyline.

If you're more into witty dialog, memorable one-liners, suspense, surprise twists, and all that, then by all means, take a pass.

How far should you dig on an investigation. After a series of police murders, Detectives Marty (Liotta) and Dan (Hatosy) and picked to head the investigation. After following some clues, Dan finds a trail of corruption that shakes him and his faith in the system. It's been awhile since I've seen the first "Street Kings" but I remember it being a little slow and not liking it that much. This one I thought was much faster paced, had more action, and to me was a better movie. Not much in the way of originality here, but a very enjoyable movie and much, much better then I was expecting. Going into too much depth will give away the movie, (it is a little predictable, but still...) but I will say this movie will not disappoint you. Weather you like the original or not, this is a good time. I think this one of the few sequels that is better then the original. I give it a B+.

Would I watch again? - I think I would