End of Watch Movie Review

End of Watch | Image source: www.themoviedb.org

End of Watch is released on September 21, 2012
This movie genres is Crime Drama Thriller .

End of Watch Overview

Two young officers are marked for death after confiscating a small cache of money and firearms from the members of a notorious cartel during a routine traffic stop.

End of Watch Movie Review

Written by LastCaress1972 on August 11, 2013

Officers Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Michael Peña) are LA beat cops, partnered up a long time. We watch them in action via a number of set pieces, and see that they're cynical enough to interpret the rules as necessary but still by a long, long stretch good and decent cops that will risk their lives in carrying out their duties at a moment's notice. Zavala is already blissfully happily married with a baby on the way, Taylor has just met a sweet Irish gal and over the course of the film we see their relationship blossom and grow. These two men are like the closest of brothers. It's all good to see. One day, their dedication to the job causes them to stumble in over their pay grade into a much larger drug cartel and human trafficking operation than regular beat cops would usually encounter. Homeland Security agents appear, having apparently already been monitoring the situation, and warn our boys that they've bloodied the wrong noses, and they'd better lay low.

I HATE a dumb actioner, and this ain't that. Well, it DOES contain all of the standard tropes and cliches (buddy cops, stumbling in over their heads into some drug cartel hoo-haa; the bad guys all being relentlessly bad 24/7, permanently scowling, growling and barking at one another, etc.), but done ever-so-well; reminiscent to me of how [REC] didn't contain anything new or fresh whatsoever, but did all of what it did very well indeed and it came across as fresh as a result.

It's shot mostly cinéma vérité-style, utilising a plotline in which officer Taylor is shooting a documentary piece for a student course he's taking. However, it switches between between first and third-person narrative a la Modern Family, but when it switches to third-person it retains a very documentary-like feel, so it all feels quite seamless.

It wilts a little just past the halfway mark but picks up enormously for the final third. Also, when it's violent (which isn't often), it's unexpectedly VERY violent.

I'd give it an 8/10 and recommend that it's worth at least a look. And I'm not a fan of L.A. guns/bloods/crips/gangs/urban/drugs/cops films.

End of Watch Movie Review | Image source: www.themoviedb.org

The movie certificate: End of Watch

Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian 21 or older. The parent/guardian is required to stay with the child under 17 through the entire movie, even if the parent gives the child/teenager permission to see the film alone. These films may contain strong profanity, graphic sexuality, nudity, strong violence, horror, gore, and strong drug use. A movie rated R for profanity often has more severe or frequent language than the PG-13 rating would permit. An R-rated movie may have more blood, gore, drug use, nudity, or graphic sexuality than a PG-13 movie would admit.