A rookie homicide detective (in Detroit), Dan Sullivan (Shawn Hatosy), is paired
with veteran Narcotics Detective Marty Kingston (Ray Liotta) after one of Marty's fellow Narcotics detectives is murdered.
Dan and Marty search for who is killing off Narcotics detectives. Dan wants to find out the truth where as Marty
wants to steer the investigation in a certain direction.
STREET KINGS 2: MOTOR
CITY is your average predictable in-name-only direct-to-video sequel. Filming it in Detroit gives the sequel high production
values and yet I wish they spent more time on building a better story. Ray Liotta gives his average tough cop
performance while Shawn Hatosy is the only other impressive actor in the film. I wish the prologue wasn't in the film
and they started at a different point because I feel the prologue takes away from the story and it gives away what is happening
too soon. Then you have the tragic third act which I saw miles away.
I wanted the story to be told through
Dan's eyes while leaving Marty more of an enigma to discover bit by bit. STREET KINGS 2 blows it by revealing things
too soon and not developing the other characters enough. You have a sequel that could have been better and
instead I have to say stick with re-watching the superior first film. STREET KINGS 2: MOTOR CITY makes the first film
seem like a gritty classic in comparison. Who says you can't appreciate missing the tough performance that grand thespian
Keanu Reeves gave in STREET KINGS where you don't have enough layers to Marty or Dan in the sequel?! So again I say
stick with the first film because you aren't missing on anything by not watching this predictable by-the-numbers sequel.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Murder Scene Deconstructions-
a look at three of the murders in the film
Creating a
Convincing Cop Story- focusing on the details of making the film an interesting and realistic cop film
An Explosive Opening- Behind-the-scenes of filming the opening scene which was added
late.
Motor City Setting- filming in Detroit and the production design
(clothes, cars, architecture)
The two deleted scenes were wisely cut and
amount to over two minutes total.
FINAL ANALYSIS: STREET KINGS 2 is predictable and I wish
the opening scene wasn't included even though the filmmakers thought it needed to be there. Go watch the first STREET
KINGS again because you just have an average direct-to-DVD sequel.
this DVD review is (c)5-21-2011
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com
