Ladies & gentlemen, once again, we dive into yet another movie review sooner rather than later. And this shall be awesome as, after this, we shall finally reach the milestone of 350 film reviews. I definitely am overly excited about this, and I hope you are too. Tonight, we review an action thriller film that was released just a few months ago, in October of last year, but I never got the chance to see in theaters until last week. Yes, tonight, we review the one and only thriller, Black & Blue, starting Naomi Harris, Tyrese Gibson, and a few others.
Plot: Shortly after a rookie cop named Alicia West (Naomi West) returns to New Orleans to be a cop there, she witnesses the murder of an unarmed drug dealer, and gets framed for it. After teaming up with a store owner named Milo Jackson (Tyrese Gibson), can they together find the real culprit, and clear Alicia’s name once and for all?
Although this action thriller may have a story that may feel a little fast paced at times, it is also one that is very well-structured. Basically, Black & Blue can almost feel like a more adult version of something like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, or even a movie version of any TV show season of 24. That is except for the fact that Black & Blue has to be consolidated into a movie, instead of stretched out into a TV series. However, let’s of course remember that people love watching movies too, not just TV shows. Anyway, a lot of the characters are well-developed. Sure, maybe there are a couple that could have had somewhat better character arcs. Still, for how they were written up, the movie did a very good job in that area. In addition to this, there is plenty of good suspense. Well, when a movie is supposed to be an action thriller, I suppose one should make a lot of that stuff, you know? There’s also a lot of really great chemistry between the two main leads, Alicia and Milo. Same can likely be said about some of the other characters, most notably when it comes to the villains. Additionally, Black & Blue does a fantastic job of showing how just because one is a cop, doesn’t mean that cops can always be trusted. Yeah, let’s remember that there are some cops who might be criminals behind closed doors. Of course, this doesn’t just apply to the police department. There have been people throughout history who have done evil things in secret as well, corrupt church leaders (Middles Ages, anyone?), people who have worked in grocery stores, you name it. With that said, the film does a fantastic job of teaching us that you have to be careful about who you trust, or distrust. As for the score by Geoff Zanelli, he also has a really good score, particularly when it comes to moments that may make you jump on the edge of your seats from time to time.
And that’s my review for Black & Blue. Overall, this movie does a really noble job of having some good moral lessons that we need to constantly learn in our lives. Not only that, but the action is awesome, and the characters are very well thought out for the most part. If you’re into action films, specifically thrillers, Black & Blue is most definitely a must watch. It is well executed, and one that maybe you might want to watch more than once from time to time.
Final Grade: A
P.S. Next up, my 350th review!
Matthew’s Animated & Live-Action Movie Reviews 