{"id":19346,"date":"2019-10-24T11:34:03","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T18:34:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=19346"},"modified":"2019-10-24T11:34:03","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T18:34:03","slug":"black-and-blue-offers-b-movie-thrills-but-little-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=19346","title":{"rendered":"BLACK AND BLUE Offers B-Movie Thrills, But Little Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/24_0006_C+-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7079\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sometimes, you attend a film screening and the movie isn\u2019t\nquite what you anticipated. Occasionally, this can be a good thing, knocking\nyou back on your heels and providing an unexpected jolt. However, it can be\njust as likely for the reverse to occur. This reviewer\u2019s first impressions of <em>Black\nand Blue<\/em> suggested that the picture was a drama about a cop dealing with\ncorruption on the job and taking a stand to fight injustice. While this is technically\naccurate, the film itself is much sillier and pulpier than one might have\nexpected. In fact, it\u2019s a cheesy action B-movie that is only bolstered somewhat\nby a strong lead performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Black-and-Blue-dinner-restaurant-fixed-1024x544.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19347\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alicia West (Naomi Harris) is an ex-military war veteran who\nhas moved back to her hometown and works as a rookie in the New Orleans police\nforce. When she sees a shady narcotics officer Terry Malone (Frank Grillo)\nexecute an associate and records it on her body cam, the protagonist realizes\nthat she has accidentally uncovered a secret plot involving several policemen.\nWith incriminating evidence on her person, West is immediately targeted by the\nsquad and set up for the murder. A local gangster named Darius (Mike Colter) also\ndemands retribution for the slaying and begins hunting her down. Determined to\nget the footage into the proper hands, West must survive attacks from all\nsides, asking old acquaintance\/convenience store employee Milo \u2018Mouse\u2019 Jackson\n(Tyrese Gibson) for assistance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you might have guessed by now, this is not a heavy drama,\nbut rather an action picture. It may not be a sequel, but viewers will have already\nseen these events hundreds of times, as the lead is set up for a crime they\ndidn\u2019t commit, must evade capture from scenery-chewing foes, and eventually prove\ntheir innocence. There are no surprises or twists here that will come as a\nshock to anyone. Thankfully, the movie is helped by star Harris, who imbues her\ncharacter with a likably earnest if na\u00efve streak, and can also fight when\nbacked into a corner. And much of the supporting cast do the best with what\nthey are given, even if their roles aren\u2019t well developed (particularly the bad\nguys, who are as one-note as it gets).&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Black-and-Blue-alley-1024x618.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19348\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, while the protagonist is likable and it is exciting at\ntimes to watch her bolt down alleys and avoid gunfire, much of the film comes\nacross as corny. There\u2019s plenty of ridiculousness on display here as the lead\nemphatically states how no one has the right to get away with murder, then\nproceeds to shoot dead several of those pursuing her. The characters all take\nbreaks between the bloodshed to loudly and openly discuss either the danger\nthey are in, or detail the next step in their sinister plan (even towards the climax\nwhen many others are seemingly in their presence). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Black-and-Blue-harris-gun.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-19349\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These increasingly preposterous episodes become more and\nmore frequent as the film progresses. One supposes that the talks may have\nworked with a little more subtlety in the writing, but the exposition often\ncomes off as stilted. And my goodness, it seems at times as if half of the\ndialogue features the term, body cam. Most of the snarling, screaming and\nshouting involves lines like, \u201cWhere is the body cam?\u201d and, \u201cGive me the body cam!\u201d\nThe expression is used so frequently that it eventually results in chuckles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are definitely important points to be made about the\nstresses of being a whistleblower in a tightly knit group of police officers, not\nto mention issues like racial profiling and criminal activity within the force.\nHowever, this movie isn\u2019t interested in doing much more than giving these\nissues a passing mention and then focusing on the shoot-outs and chase scenes.\nThese bits are entertaining in the moment, but if you\u2019re looking for action\nwith a little more depth, <em>Black and Blue<\/em> will leave you unsatisfied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes, you attend a film screening and the movie isn\u2019t quite what you anticipated. Occasionally, this can be a good thing, knocking you back on your heels and providing an unexpected jolt. However, it can be just as likely for the reverse to occur. This reviewer\u2019s first impressions of Black and Blue suggested that the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[197,697,2822,2823,2824,2825,6251,7836,13929,14553,14735,22825,23456],"class_list":["post-19346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-197","tag-action","tag-black-and-blue","tag-black-and-blue-film-review","tag-black-and-blue-movie-review","tag-black-and-blue-review","tag-drama","tag-frank-grillo","tag-mike-colter","tag-naomi-harris","tag-new-orleans","tag-thriller","tag-tyrese-gibson"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19346\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}