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Kristin Smith

Movie Review

Andre Davis lost his father at the age of 13. After that tragic day, he swore to himself that he would uphold the law, always pursuing truth and justice no matter the cost. Because that’s what his father had done as a police officer.

Now, 19 years later, Andre is a renowned NYPD detective making good on his word. FBI agents and fellow officers know him to be by the book—an agent with a strict moral compass, unwilling to bend in the face of crime, injustice or temptation.

But while that’s admirable, Andre’s personality rubs some law-enforcement officials the wrong way. Especially those who operate more in the “gray” than in the “black and white” areas of life.

One night, Andre is dispatched to the scene of a crime where two criminals, Michael and Ray, have left the bloodied bodies of seven police officers after a shootout over cocaine. Disturbed and compelled to seek justice, Andre plans to trap Michael and Ray by closing off every bridge in Manhattan.

With only a few short hours to execute his plan before they escape, Andre works relentlessly to track the killers. But he soon finds that Michael and Ray are being used as pawns by those who promise to uphold the law … but are only using it for their own ends.

Positive Elements

Andre’s father was known as an inquisitive man, full of integrity, fearlessness and justice. Years later, when Andre is a grown man, he takes on the same characteristics of his father and strongly believes that justice must be served, even when it comes at a cost. Andre is known as someone who “speaks first and shoots second,” unlike many other police officers. He also cares for his elderly mother, who’s suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Michael, the film’s main criminal, wrestles with the poor choices he’s made, feeling the emotional weight of those who have been killed because of his selfishness.

Spiritual Elements

A priest prays during a funeral for the hurts of Andre’s family. He also speaks at length about God’s wrath, judgement and omniscience.

Andre’s mother wears a cross necklace and tells him to be careful in a job where he “looks the devil in the eye” daily. Andre encourages a criminal to pray to God and “ask for forgiveness.” A criminal makes a reference to a Jehovah’s Witness.

Sexual Content

Two men in a locker room take their shirts off and joke about oral sex. A few women wear short, cleavage-baring dresses, a dancer wears a bralette while at a club, and another woman lounges in short-shorts that reveal a bit of her backside.

Violent Content

Michael and Ray, the two main criminals in the film, get into numerous shoot-outs with police officials. In the first gunfight, Ray and Michael kill seven police officers, as well as a few bystanders. Men and women alike are shot in the head, stomach, eyes and other body parts. One female police officer struggles to breathe after being shot in the throat (we see her open, bloodied wound).

Elsewhere, blood pours from open wounds and sprays in various directions; after one battle, dead bodies lie on the ground surrounded by puddles of blood. A few people bleed to death.

Corrupt officers shoot a few people without cause and try to cover up their crime. There’s a reference to a young man being blown up in Afghanistan and coming home “in a box.”

We hear that Andre’s father died when Andre was a young boy and that “every bone” in his face was broken. We also hear of a brutal criminal who beat an elderly man to death.

An angry woman slaps a man in the face. Two people are knocked unconscious. One guy is bound and gagged. Dead, skinned pigs hang in a butcher shop.

Crude or Profane Language

The f-word is heard nearly 70 times, and the s-word 16 times. God’s name is misused once (paired with “d–mit”), and Jesus’ name is misused three times. Profanities and crudities such as “b-lls,” “hoe, “a–hole” and “son of a b–ch” are each uttered once or twice.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Two criminals uncover hundreds of pounds of packaged cocaine and steal whatever they can carry. Later, they take their findings to a notorious drug dealer who pays them a handsome sum for the haul. A large group of law enforcement officers are busted for transporting and selling cocaine. A woman tastes cocaine, and we hear of a man who was previously high on the drug.

A few men drink hard liquor. We hear that a police officer crashes his car while intoxicated.

Other Negative Elements

An entire police force tries to justify its illegal acts. A criminal vomits after seeing multiple dead bodies and later refers to a homeless man urinating in public. A solider receives a dishonorable discharge from the Marines.

Conclusion

If you saw Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther and want more of King T’Challa, you’ll not find him here—at least, not completely.

Boseman plays the just and moral Andre Davis, a detective who pursues truth even in the face of darkness; in that way his character is like T’Challa.

But as for the rest of the movie, well, let’s just say this is no Black Panther.

Excessive language and brutal violence give this action-thriller a hard shove into R-rated territory. And because the storyline centers on a drug bust, plenty of references to cocaine surface in this harrowing-but-predictable tale of corruption, betrayal and deception.

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Kristin Smith

Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).