The Crime - Blu-Ray

Film: Jack Regan (Ray Winstone), leader of the elite Flying Squad, has long been a thorn in the side of his superiors with his ruthless and often legally borderline methods. Regan and his unit manage to clean up London's underworld time and again. But their actions are more than questionable, which is why the Flying Squads are also the subject of an investigation by the internal oversight agency headed by Ivan Lewis (Steven Machintosh). And Lewis also has a personal score to settle with Regan, as the cop is having an affair with ambitious cop Nancy (Hayley Atwell), who is actually involved with Lewis. When during a robbery on a jewelry store a customer is shot seemingly indiscriminately by the gangsters, it leads the elite unit on the trail of a gang of extremely cunning robbers, which is apparently led by an old acquaintance of Regan. But as clear as the case may be, it holds quite a few dangers beneath the surface that could not only spell the end of the Flying Squads, but also open up the possibility for Lewis to take down Regan once and for all...

The Crime is based on the 70s cult series Die Füchse (OT: The Sweeney), whose four seasons were also shown in Germany in the early 80s. The series was not only characterized by good characters and exciting scripts, but also by the fact that it was not only shot in the studio, but to a large extent directly on London's streets. This gave the series a high degree of authenticity, which was very well received by viewers. To this day, the men of the Flying Squad have a sizable fan base, which is probably one of the reasons why the series has now been revived in the cinema. Ray Winston, who made one of his first ever appearances in the original series in a small supporting role, proves to be a good choice for the thuggish Jack Regan, who is a father figure of sorts to his young protégé George Carter (Ben Drew), a passionate lover to his colleague Nancy, and an absolute nightmare to his enemies (as well as his superiors). Winston does a good job of believably conveying the various facets of his character, which is positively supported by the script, which is neat in itself.

The script is only neat in itself, as it simply crams too many plot threads into the nearly two hour running time, which in turn leads to much of it simply remaining too superficial. Furthermore, director Nick Love and his co-writer John Hodge unfortunately don't manage to avoid a lot of clichés that are common for the genre and too hackneyed. The Crime has some exciting and very rousing moments, but the story can only rarely surprise. On the positive side, however, it manages to build up an engaging atmosphere with the help of good camerawork and well-chosen locations in London, from which the suspense level can also noticeably benefit.

In its best moments, The Crime is then actually exactly what it wants to be: a cool, suspenseful thriller with interesting characters. Unfortunately, that's not true for the entire film. Much of it is just too ordinary, too familiar to offer fans of the genre anything more than entertainment on a decent level. It's certainly far from bad. However, the film can't offer nerve-racking, surprising suspense either. Therefore, if you want to see a solid thriller with a little good action and a few highlights and accept some clichés and dramaturgical hangs, this remake of the classic British crime series can be recommended. Worth seeing!

Image + Sound: The very clean image captures the gloomy, somewhat undercooled atmosphere of the film very well with its good image sharpness and its coherent color scheme. The matching of contrasts and black levels also leave a positive impression, which is hardly marred even in the numerous dark scenes. The sound transports not only the dialogues clearly understandable from the boxes, but has especially during the shootouts and chases also some very well-implemented surround moments to offer, which let it also thanks to rich bass repeatedly crack. Good!

Extras: The Blu-Ray has over 100 minutes of bonus material to offer. It starts off with a good making of (approx. 26 min.), which offers a good insight into the production and is not too promo-heavy. Then it continues with a look at the preparations for the shooting (approx. 15 min.), where it is primarily about the script, the adaptation of the original series and the casting of the actors. The spectacular Tarafalga Square shootout gets two bonus features at once. First, viewers can watch the sequence as an animatic (approx. 2:30 min.) before a short documentary highlights the shooting of this scene (approx. 15 min.). The two main characters Regan and Carter also get their own featurette (4 min.), followed by a visit from the car pros from TOP GEAR magazine during the filming (approx. 8:30 min.). Four promo interviews with the director and his lead actors (approx. 30 min.), as well as the trailer and other program tips round out the disc's good additional offerings.

Conclusion: The Crime is a well-cast and, in its best moments, exciting remake of the classic crime series The Foxes. Even though director Nick Love doesn't break any real new ground at any moment and the film offers a lot of the ordinary in a very visually appealing package, the level of suspense at the end is enough to make the film still worth watching for lovers of classic crime action. The good technical realization of the Blu-Ray and the worth seeing bonus material also ensure that on balance, despite dramaturgical weaknesses, a clear Recommendable can be pronounced

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp