Blitz Blu-Ray Review

If you walk into Blitz expecting a straight to home video (in North America at least), Jason Statham action flick, you’ll probably be mildly satisfied. It’s not exactly the best work that the actor has done but it’s not his worst. It’s a mediocre little action flick that offers up a couple thrills and just enough excitement to sustain its ninety-seven minute runtime.

Overly cliched and familiar in its plot, Blitz follows Jason Statham‘s Brant, a hard edged cop who drinks a lot, assaults suspects and doesn’t have much respect for his gay Sergeant, Porter Nash (Paddy Considine).

When members of the police force start turning up murdered, Brant forms an alliance with Nash as they attempt to catch a serial killer known as Blitz (Aidan Gillen) before he strikes again. Along the way, a number of subplots that should have never been here in the first place show up and of course, Statham has his fair share of wisecracking one liners.

The above mentioned subplots are one of many problems with the film. They feel unnecessary and that’s usually because they’re not fleshed out nearly enough. At ninety-seven minutes, the film gives too much time to these uninteresting and needless side stories and fans will find themselves waiting to see Statham kick more ass.

When the film does let the actor loose, it’s exactly what you would expect. Jason Statham is perfect in the role, it’s the character he was born to play. There’s a healthy dose of action (although surprisingly less than in other efforts from the actor) and Statham turns into the natural badass that you came to see. His gruff demeanour and grizzled attitude make for a great character and fans of his won’t walk away disappointed.

Considine and Gillen are also just as impressive as Statham. Gillen plays Blitz with an odd fascination that makes it hard to take your eyes off of him and Considine provides a nice foil for Statham’s Brant, providing for a very watchable character. Truthfully, if these three characters were given more attention, rather than wasting time with silly side stories, the film would have turned out much better.

Unfortunately, this is not the case and the actors are stuck in a very ho-hum movie. Plot holes are plentiful and almost everyone except Gillen, Statham and Considine are completely one note, coming off as superfluous to the film.

The pacing from direction from Elliott Lester is fine and the gritty action is shot quite well, but you can’t help but to feel an overwhelming feeling of mediocrity with just about everything that’s on display here. It’s all very run of the mill and it’s all been done before.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad film, it’s just nothing particularly special or exciting. Lester looks like he’s honestly trying to break away from genre conventions but the film never quite makes it to that level.

Ultimately, much of this movie’s enjoyment stems from just how much you like Jason Statham. It’s a great role for the actor but he’s stuck in a cookie cutter film that really does nothing noteworthy, rather it all just feels recylced.

Look, I enjoy seeing Statham kicking ass and taking names just as much as the next guy, but at least give us something unique or original, something that doesn’t feel like every other movie the guy has done. He’s good at what he does but that doesn’t mean he has to do it over and over and over again. That’s not to say Blitz isn’t enjoyable, because it is. Just don’t expect to remember it for very long after your initial viewing.

On Blu-Ray, Blitz won’t blow anyone away but it’s acceptable for the format. The film’s gritty look is transferred over well, complete with a thin layer of grain, strong detail and deep black levels. The color scheme used here doesn’t exactly sparkle but it is rendered well and aside from a couple shots with soft edges, things look fairly good.

Dialogue is always clear despite the score being a bit loud at times and effects are alright, with nothing that will really ‘wow’ you. Surrounds don’t get a ton of work but what’s here is pretty well balanced and sounds just fine for this type of film.

Special features are essentially worthless, as all we get are quick cast interviews, a crummy behind the scenes piece and some trailers. I wish I could recommend something here but none of this is worth your time.

Blitz is a fine film but it’s nothing more than average. The three main actors do a good job of crafting interesting characters but the plot is weighed down by superfluous side stories and far too many genre conventions/cliches. Unless you’re a die hard Statham film or just really really like these types of films, I’d recommend a rental, at least at first.