Fridae

The crime novel and film noir are joined at the hip in more ways than one. While the literary genre originally informed the sensibilities of directors in France and America in the 50s, these days it’s the film genre that informs much of the style of modern pulp fiction. With Blitz, everything old is new again; the film is an adaptation of an instalment in a crime fiction series by Ken Bruen featuring the odd couple pairing of an out-of-control, rough and tumble police sergeant and his partner, an urbane gay man.

Filling the roles are Jason Statham and Paddy Considine as the iron fist in the velvet glove respectively. Blitz pits the accidental pairing against a cop killer on the loose played with psychotic relish by Aiden Gillen (Queer as Folk, Game of Thrones). It’s like pitting an animal abuser against a Doberman – especially when the cop killer targets the colleagues of the cop buddies, who seem to have their own bonding issues to work out. Of course, this makes for great viewing, as though 1980s Hong Kong crime films never went out of vogue.

Ported over from the novel are various sub-plots that serve to develop the characterisation of the supporting cast in the series; given that these seem to be an ongoing drama, their presence and poor resolution in the film may feel padded to some.

Blitz is a competent, old-fashioned crime film that does the job. Though a tad unimaginative, it possesses a manic energy that is all Aiden Gillen’s. It may also be Jason Statham’s best noir film to date, standing head and shoulders above his usual C-grade action genre material and even the laughable remake of The Mechanic earlier this year.