A detective is assigned a new partner in the aftermath of a Jigsaw copycat beginning to target dirty cops. Okay series reinvention: the procedural approach is a neat shift, and Rock is having fun, but the predictable villain and unlikable victims mean that we tend to side with the antagonist, if we invest at all.
Here’s the trailer.
A veteran cop and an ambitious detective collaborate to catch a serial killer. Well-made and acted if slightly over-familiar neo-noir with procedural aspects. Its deliberate pace and quiet style may not be for everyone, but Denzel Washington is as good as ever and LA is made to feel unfamiliar: no easy feat.
Here’s the trailer.
A Fed and a cop become obsessed over a mass murderer who reappears each Halloween. The movie starts well, though gets bogged down by Act 3 because it can’t finesse its tricky reveal while still staging multiple splattery deaths and referencing all the horror films it can think of. Over-edited, flawed, but not uninteresting.
A bereaved patrol officer investigates the cover-up of a child’s death, and the police killings that ensue. Flawed but fascinating horror/procedural that explores cop-on-black murder and the need for justice through genre-heavy allegory, drawing on J-horror and found-footage elements as well as from Candyman. Worth your 90 minutes.
A veteran and a rookie struggle to work together while patrolling LA’s gang neighbourhoods. Still-influential drama that tries for nuance while establishing the look and tone of two generations of movies. Worth revisiting, not least for its direction, cinematography, and its Herbie Hancock score.
255 Review 