I just finished this film, and I'll be honest, I had fairly low expectations while watching... I know how remakes of classic titles can go... sometimes they honour the original, other times they simply borrow the name and deliver something forgettable. This one thankfully falls into the first category, and I was genuinely impressed.
The story follows Priest, an Atlanta drug dealer at the very top of his game who's decided he wants out... one final, carefully orchestrated job and then a clean exit before the streets or the police catch up with him.
It's a familiar premise... "one last job" is practically its own sub-genre at this point but Director X who made his name directing music videos brings such a distinctive visual sensibility to the material that it never feels tired or recycled.
I have to talk about how beautifully shot this film is, because honestly, every frame feels deliberate. The fashion alone is exceptional.... Priest's coats, the colour grading, the way Atlanta itself is captured almost like a character in its own right. You can tell this director comes from a music video background, and it shows in the best possible way. There's a slickness and confidence to nearly every scene that a lot of crime dramas simply don't bother to achieve.
Trevor Jackson, playing Priest, is really the one carrying this film. He plays the role with a cool, controlled magnetism.... never overplaying the "tough guy drug dealer" archetype, always calm, always dangerous, always in command of whatever room he's in. That matters a great deal here, because the entire plot depends on you believing this man is intelligent enough to actually outmanoeuvre everyone around him, and Jackson sells that completely.
Jason Mitchell, as Priest's partner Eddie, brings genuine texture to the film too... there's real loyalty and tension between the two of them that gives the story an emotional backbone underneath all the slick, calculated criminal business. And Michael Kenneth Williams, playing a corrupt police officer entangled in the operation, simply commands every scene he appears in. Which, honestly, is exactly what you'd expect from him.
Now, my one genuine criticism — the plot does become somewhat convoluted in the second half. There are quite a number of moving parts: rival gangs, corrupt police officers, cartel entanglements, and at certain points it felt like the film was juggling more than it strictly needed to. I found myself rewinding once or twice just to properly follow who was betraying whom.
That said, I didn't find it particularly bothersome, because I was thoroughly enjoying the style and the confidence of the film to be genuinely concerned about the finer details of the plot. The soundtrack, produced by Future, deserves real credit too.... it carries a significant amount of the film's energy, with the musical cues landing at precisely the right moments throughout.
So, is it a good film?.... Yes, genuinely... It isn't reinventing the crime genre like we've seen and the plot does get slightly overstuffed toward the end but it's still stylish, confidently made, well-acted, and carries a swagger that a lot of contemporary crime films are too cautious to commit to.... I'd call this one a win, without hesitation.
Rating: 75/100
Originally posted through scrobble.life/movies.
