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Blitz (2011)

Director: Elliott Lester

Time Out rating

Average user rating

9 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

How can a film which gets so much wrong be so thoroughly enjoyable? ‘Blitz’ has dialogue so ripe you can almost smell it, plot holes you could drive a truck through and a plank of wood in the lead role. It’s laughably derivative, politically dubious, wildly overbearing and incredibly silly. It’s also cracklingly paced, blissfully unsophisticated and enormous fun. Much of this is due to the casting: Jason Statham is typically lifeless as a violently troubled East End cop on the edge, allowing Paddy Considine to steal the limelight as his by-the-book gay sidekick. But it’s Aiden Gillen (right) who takes top honours as the titular madcap cop killer, channeling the young Gary Oldman into a performance of self-mocking cool and giddy psychotic subversion. It’s a fine-looking film, too: director Elliott Lester gives London a slick but eerily beautiful MTV sheen, and his action work is crunchily compelling. It’s hard to know how seriously anyone besides Statham is taking this – but that only adds to its absurd, cock-eyed charm.

Author: Tom Huddleston

Time Out London Issue 2126: 19 – 26 May, 2011

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User reviews of this film

Marsellus said...

Posted on Aug 08 2011 11:11 I had high hopes for this film after watching the trailer. Also, Statham being back in a British film automatically lifted it above the Transporters and Cranks. However, what a disappointment! The film had a nice budget (unusual for a Brit film) and the actors were good (Statham was the usual Statham but Aidan Gillen and Paddy Considine were a cut above) but the story was just rubbish. There were too many subplots that went nowhere and not enough time was actually spent on the main storyline (the Blitz killer). Was there any detection or police investigation in the film? There are so many plot holes in Blitz it could be the film equivalent of a cheese-grater. I've seen better episodes of The Bill.

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voiceofreason said...

Posted on Jun 02 2011 21:11 silly

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critique said...

Posted on May 30 2011 11:49 Routine Brit action thriller elevated slightly above the ordinary by Aiden Gillen`s notable turn as the pushbike-riding, muttering cop killer.

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scrumpyjack said...

Posted on May 26 2011 21:12 Beer and pizza film. Nothing wrong with that and no one is going to go into this thinking anything else. If they are, they are dafter than the film.......and that's VERY daft! 6/10

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ray flint said...

Posted on May 25 2011 21:05 Very good film witty and just my kind of film statham fllm mostly watchable

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ray flint said...

Posted on May 25 2011 21:05 Very good film witty and just my kind of film statham fllm mostly watchable

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ed said...

Posted on May 25 2011 11:05 Enjoyable and straight forward little British film. Probably the best Jason Statham film since the Crank duo. Statham seems more relaxed and at home back home in the UK. He's allowed a little room to act and give the character a few layers. Script has some wit and it was good to see a film about a serial killer where the villain was on-screen for much of the running time and was fun to watch. Nice to see Mark Rylance from JERUSALEM on the big screen for once, still wearing that facial hair from the play. Good action, good baddie, nice cast... cliched and predictable as hell with a supremely daft ending. I read somewhere that this was based on a book in a series featuring this weird cop duo. Jason Statham at his best. Let's see more British Statham movies. His American ones will see him going the Dolph Lundgren / Christopher Lambert route within 2 years otherwise....

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ric said...

Posted on May 23 2011 12:52 Lackadaisical story from start to finish. Blitz was a poor character & acted mince. Statham below his best but that was due to the storyline. Go see it if nothing else is on but dont expect fireworks.

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Tony Montana said...

Posted on May 20 2011 12:19 Statham has done well. At least he, Dacascos, Willis, Segal, Norris, Lundgren, Van Damme, Snipes, Chan, Li, Lee, Chow, Hung, Biao, Yeoh, Jaa and Chiba have skills to go with the muscle.
Wood is Wayne, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Affleck, Reeves and Diesel.

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