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Movies / Upcoming / Street Kings
Street Kings

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Street Kings (2008)

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Reviews Counted:147

Fresh:54

Rotten:93

Average Rating:5.1/10

Consensus: Street Kings contains formulaic violence but no shred of intelligence.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence and pervasive language

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:2008

Box Office: $26,351,341

Synopsis: In STREET KINGS, a police thriller directed by David Ayer, Keanu Reeves plays Tom Ludlow, a veteran LAPD Vice Detective. Ludlow sets out on a quest to discover the killers of his former partner,... In STREET KINGS, a police thriller directed by David Ayer, Keanu Reeves plays Tom Ludlow, a veteran LAPD Vice Detective. Ludlow sets out on a quest to discover the killers of his former partner, Detective Terrance Washington (Terry Crews). Academy® Award winner Forest Whitaker plays Captain Wander, Ludlow’s supervisor, whose duties include keeping him within the confines of the law and out of the clutches of Internal Affairs Captain Biggs (Hugh Laurie). Ludlow teams up with a young Robbery Homicide Detective (Chris Evans) to track Washington’s killers through the diverse communities of Los Angeles. Their determination pays off when the two Detectives track down Washington’s murderers and confront them in an attempt to bring them to justice. --© Fox Searchlight [More]

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Forest Whitaker

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans, Forest Whitaker, Common, Terry Crews, Amaury Nolasco, Naomie Harris, Jay Mohr

Director: David Ayer

Director: David Ayer
Screenwriter: James Ellroy, Kurt Wimmer
Producer: Erwin Stoff, Alexandra Milchan, Lucas Foster
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures

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Reviews for Street Kings

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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There's only the spectacle of crooked dunces slamming against each other

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/27/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: CHUD | comment Comment
02/27/09
Devin Faraci
Devin Faraci
CHUD

A lot of reviewers seem to have disliked Street Kings because of its negative view of the LA police, and perhaps the country at large. That is not a problem for me.

Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | comment Comment
02/02/09
Tony Macklin
Tony Macklin
Fayetteville Free Weekly

Everything here is predictable, from the tired plot whose revelations are deeply unsurprising to the gritty dialogue and casual everyday violence of the cops involved.

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
10/18/08
Mike Goodridge
Mike Goodridge
Screen International
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
10/18/08
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

There is certainly something compelling in the film's ideas, but the way they're executed suggest that any true questions about morality and the law are just grist for the action mill.

Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk | comment Comment
10/18/08
James Kendrick
James Kendrick
Q Network Film Desk

A solid contemporary crime drama.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
10/18/08
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Keanu Reeves' bad-boy cop Tom Ludlow may not play by the rules, but the film sure does.

Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
10/18/08
Tom Charity
Tom Charity
CNN.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Competent but fatally lacking in the element of surprise. [Blu-Ray]

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
08/19/08
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

If you can forgive its stale dialogue, which at times seems so egregiously leaden that it might have been better suited to a Mad magazine parody, 'Street Kings' is a tense, aggressively absurd thriller.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
08/13/08
Rossiter Drake
Rossiter Drake
San Francisco Examiner

While military man turned director Ayer implicates our culture steeped in violence and the damaging effects of trained killing, whether by police or in war, he's assembled such a deplorable LAPD rogues gallery, it's hard to tell which one is the worst.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
08/08/08
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
NewsBlaze

Ayer's rapid pacing and solid work by the cast distract us from the script's shortcomings.

Full Review Source: Illinois Times | comment Comment
06/28/08
Charles Koplinski
Charles Koplinski
Illinois Times

Ellroy, who also co-wrote the screenplay, and Ayer share an interest in L.A. after dark, and they explore the city's neon-bathed streets with the glee of children in a funhouse, watching the distortions of everyday people in bent mirrors.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
06/19/08
Graham Killeen
Graham Killeen
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

I don't think there were really any bad scenes, but I found the overall film emotionally empty.

Full Review Source: Sin Magazine | comment Comment
06/08/08
Austin Kennedy
Austin Kennedy
Sin Magazine

Granted, it doesn’t revolutionize the cop genre, but it definitely does a solid job of entertaining for its runtime, and as a movie-watcher (and lover)…ain’t much else that I can ask for than that.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
06/06/08
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

[In the] surprisingly engrossing 'Street Kings,' we are presented with cops who live up to our worst nightmare of excessive force.

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
06/05/08
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

The movie has a million flaws, but if you can look past them and enjoy a fun, gritty, violent, racist and entertaining dirty cop film, then you will have fun with it.

Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio) | comment 1 Comment
06/01/08
Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

Anyone looking for a good shoot-'em-up film should not leave the theater disappointed, but those seeking something thought-provoking might want to stay away.

Full Review Source: Watertown Daily Times | comment Comment
05/20/08
Adam Tobias
Adam Tobias
Watertown Daily Times
 
 
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Latest News for Street Kings

August 16, 2008: Another wooden performance from Keanu Reeves in high-impact splatter flick. Opens in new window
More...

August 08, 2008: While military man turned director Ayer implicates our culture steeped in violence and the damaging effects of trained killing, whether by police or in war, he's assembled such a deplorable LAPD rogues gallery, it's hard to tell which one is the worst. Opens in new window
More...

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