A Forgotten Keanu Reeves Crime Movie Just Returned to Streaming

Prime Video has become the streaming home of a forgotten crime thriller starring Keanu Reeves and helmed by Suicide Squad‘s director, David Ayer. The movie’s arrival on the service gives audiences a chance to rediscover a grim entry in Reeves’ filmography that has been largely overshadowed by his more famous roles. The film is notable for its incredibly deep cast of talent, including Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, and a pre-Captain America Chris Evans, making its return to streaming a perfect opportunity to see a collection of major stars in a hard-R action story.

Backed by a screenplay from crime fiction legend James Ellroy, Street Kings features Reeves as a cynical LAPD veteran who is forced to navigate a web of departmental corruption after his former partner is murdered.

Street Kings stars Reeves as Tom Ludlow, a veteran detective of the LAPD’s Vice-Special unit who has a reputation for getting results through excessive and often illegal force. His actions are consistently covered up by his mentor and commanding officer, Captain Jack Wander ( Whitaker). Ludlow’s world is turned upside down when his former partner, Detective Terrence Washington (Terry Crews), is gunned down in front of him during a convenience store robbery. With all evidence pointing to Ludlow himself, he is relentlessly pursued by the Internal Affairs captain, James Biggs (Laurie), who has been building a case against him for years. Forced to go off-book to find his partner’s real killers, Ludlow teams up with a young, by-the-book homicide detective, Paul Diskant (Evans), and begins to unravel a conspiracy that goes deeper than he ever imagined.

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Directed by Ayer, who had previously written the screenplay for the iconic corrupt-cop thriller Training Day, Street Kings is unflinchingly bleak and violent. The film was met with mixed reviews upon its release, with critics divided over its nihilistic tone and brutal action sequences, and it performed modestly at the box office. As a result, it never achieved the blockbuster status of Reeves’ other major franchises and has since become a more obscure title for many viewers. Its pedigree, however, is undeniable, and it remains a compelling example of the gritty police thrillers that defined much of the 2000s.

Street Kings Showcased the Brutal Keanu Reeves That Led to John Wick

While Street Kings may be seen as a minor entry in his career, it holds a fascinating place in the evolution of Keanu Reeves as an action star, serving as a crucial bridge between his post-Matrix era and his eventual resurgence with John Wick. After the Matrix trilogy concluded in 2003, Reeves explored a wide variety of genres, starring in projects like the comic book adaptation Constantine, the romantic drama The Lake House, and the sci-fi remake The Day the Earth Stood Still. Street Kings arrived in 2008 as a throwback to the hard-R action films of a previous era, allowing him to step away from heroic archetypes and embody a completely different kind of character.

Reeve’s portrayal of a burnt-out and highly efficient killer in Street Kings provided a glimpse of the persona he would later perfect in the John Wick series. While Ludlow lacks the sympathetic motivation and slick style of John Wick, both characters are men driven by violent purpose, navigating a world of corruption with brutal efficiency. As a result, Street Kings proved that Reeves could headline an adult-oriented action thriller, planting him in a genre that he would come to dominate.

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