PLOT: When a military effort to tackle a British-born Ukrainian arms dealer ends catastrophically, Black Ops soldier Malcolm Gray lands in a military hospital to overcome the torture he was subjected to. After nearly a year, Gray returns to a rundown apartment in Brooklyn to reflect on the botched assignment. But Gray soon gets caught up in another impossible mission: to expose the corruption of a high-powered senator on the brink of securing a presidential nomination.
OPINION: The young director in Thomas Ikimi will definitely come of age. This is his first feature after his nomination for best director and best picture at the Eerie Horror Festival 2004, and gaining an Honorable Mention Award at the Flint International Film Festival 2005 with his Limbo.
Peradventure, an intense psychological thriller was a long shot for an up and coming writer & director. I constantly questioned myself throughout the plot and I was left often doubting my conclusions just as quickly as I became aware of them. I never figured out why it was called Black Ops. The casting was a little interesting.
Idris Elba’s all action persona paints some false expectations of what this film is about. Even Denzel Washington in a similar role in The Manchurian Candidate (2004), didn’t quite make the cut.
GUESS WHAT? This is a ‘look for the pin in the haystack’ type of film. So if you like The Jacket, Jacob’s Ladder or Open Your Eyes (Abre Los Ojos) then you should appreciate this film.
Watch the trailer.
The verdict:
[ ] What the hell did I just watch?
[ ] Umm, maybe somebody liked it.
[x] It’s worth a watch.
[ ] OK, I’m impressed.
[ ] Put everything down and run to the theater!
Genre: Thriller
Writer/Director: Thomas Ikimi
Stars: Idris Elba, Eamonn Walker, Monique Gabriela Curnen
Release Date: 11 March 2011
Thanks for posting this on my boo Idris. I’ma check him out. R.I.P. Stringer Bell 🙁
LOL! Yeah, I agree. Ever since Stringer Bell, Idris hasn’t quite been himself.