It doesn’t seem as though Black & Blue is going to be nominated for any big awards right off the bat but Rosy Cordero of Entertainment Weekly might agree that when it’s released this coming October it does feel as though it might stir up some feelings given the state of the country at the moment. Naomie Harris already looks like she’s put a great deal into this role and Tyrese Gibson is, as a lot of people know, pretty impressive when really gets into his character. The story is pretty simple but it also seems like something that we’ve seen before with a new and more modern feel to it. In fact it almost brings up shades of Judgment Night with Denis Leary, only with cops instead of suburbanites traveling through the wrong neighborhood. Harris plays a cop that witnesses the murder of a drug dealer, which is bad enough since it’s her job as a cop to serve and protect everyone, but the twist is that the killer is one of her fellow officers, who killed the dealer without provocation. Frank Grillo plays the main antagonist it would seem and quite honestly this seems to be the role he was meant to play since his stint in the MCU only seemed to have solidified that belief. When her bodycam, which seems to be standard for a lot of cops these days, catches the whole episode from start to finish, Harris’ character is suddenly caught in the middle as her moral compass is demanding her to do the right thing but her pals on the force are demanding that she turn over the camera so that any incriminating evidence can be destroyed.
After being shot she has no choice but to flee as she tries desperately to find help in the old neighborhood she came from, only to find that the people are less than receptive and aren’t about to help a cop that appears to be fearing for her life and is on the run. This part of the trailer says a lot about the mistrust of police in this day and age since the consensus with some folks is that cops are not to be trusted and are even to be avoided at all costs. But when she barges in on a stranger who finally decides to give her some help the situation only intensifies as her fellow officers are still on the lookout and are using every possible resource they have, including a local gang leader, to find her. Back in the day such a search might have involved kicking in doors and trying to guess just where she would be, but in this modern age the trailer shows the gang leader sending out a text which in turn ‘activates’ a sizable group of people that are in one way or another allied with the leader, who is obviously allied with the crooked cops. Upon putting a bounty on her head, the gang leader makes it nearly impossible for Harris’ character to show her face without attracting a large group of trigger-happy, money-hungry individuals that are looking for a quick payday.
So far with what’s been seen from the trailer this movie looks absolutely impressive as it shows just how technology has really changed the game on the streets and how it can be applied and used against pretty much anyone in a way that assures that they can’t get away or even hide for that long since being on the grid is a sure way to allow oneself to be tracked, monitored, and ferreted out when needed. That being said it’s also a movie that’s going to help build the continuous trust issues that people have with cops since the idea that the men and women in blue are untrustworthy is already a popular opinion among some groups, and the consensus that cops can’t be relied on no matter what is something that many people have taken to spewing to anyone that will listen. It’s ironic though that the same people who want to claim that they need help from time to time are the same ones that verbally bash those that are in a position to help them. This movie seems poised to make that point as well, though we’ll have to wait and see just how far the movie decides to go with it.
From the outset it might take some doing to get into this movie but it could be one that people will be commenting on quite a bit. Something tells me that Rotten Tomatoes and other critics might already be looking at it as a kind of so-so picture that won’t be seen as inspiring or damning in any way, but will still be a decent performance. At this point we’ll have to wait and see though, since critics can be unpredictable at times.
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