Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Leguizamo and Wahlberg try to get the better of each other in a hostage standoff, 5 Jun 2008
"The Kill Point" was an eight-part television series that has the distinction of being the first drama to air on the Spike network. The story is about a group of U.S. Marines back from Iraq who try to pull off a bank robbery in Pittsburgh. They almost get away with it, but then the robbery turns into a hostage situation. John Leguizamo plays Jake Mendez, the sergeant in charge of the operation and who calls himself "Mr. Wolf" in negotiations with the police Captain Horst Cali (Donnie Wahlberg), the police negotiator. In terms of recent television series as points of reference, "The Kill Point" strikes me as a cross between "Kidnapped" and "The Nine," which is not a bad thing.
"The Kill Point" has its fair share of hostage taking commonplaces (except for the television series "Standoff," why are FBI hostage negotiators such idiots?), but having Leguizamo and Wahlberg playing off each other is a major plus. Overall, you will get caught up in the various games being played and wondering when the SWAT team sniper (Michael K. Williams), who is usually seen in most episodes waxing philosophically about his skills or whatever, is finally going to take a damn shot at somebody. Of course the big problem is that you want both guys to win, but the situation becomes more and more one in which that sort of outcome is going to be very difficult to achieve. Because this is a mini-series, it has the ability to come up with some decent variations on the genre. Plus, as a mini-series, it actually has a beginning and an end without leaving out the part in the middle.
Because these are ex-U.S. soldiers there are obviously concerns about what this story says about the war in Iraq. Mr. Wolf's rant against the war, clearly modeled on Al Pacino's "Attica!" scene in "Dog Day Afternoon," is mitigated by the revelation that he is not telling the truth. Exactly what the truth is about what happened over there is never really clear, but ultimately it is a secondary consideration at best because what matters most is not their motives for robbing the bank but rather the fact that they are a well-trained combat unit. One of my favorite parts in the series was when the authorities decide to try and make the hostage takers uncomfortable by turning on the air conditioning and bad music full blast and Cali points out that they are trying these tactics against guys are back from a war whose hellish conditions make these ploys look like a walk in the park. These guys are professionals and they have friendlies on the outside who have their back, and these things combine to make "The Kill Point" something rather different in this particular genre (not quite "Inside Man," but certainly way closer to that than to "Dog Day Afternoon"). Consequently, if you keep watching past the rant, I think you will pretty much find your views on the war supported whatever they might be.
One of the reasons I want to recommend "The Kill Point" is because I think it reinforces the idea that the mini-series deserves to be revived as a major television art form. With each new television season I am becoming increasingly loath to start watching these series that get cancelled way before we get to the end. "Kidnapped" at least was given the opportunity by NBC to finish off the story, although you had to watch the episodes on line, as part of NBC's all-night Sunday line-up, or on the DVD when it came out. In the U.K. you lucky folks are perfectly content to have series consist of less than a dozen episodes, and maybe on this side of the pond networks should get more interested in that idea as well. When episodic shows ruled the day, it was one thing, but in a "Lost" world where gigantic story arcs are the template du jour every show that is quickly cancelled decreases the propensity of viewers to fall for the same trick another dozen times.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Once you are in the cross hairs you will want to see it through till the end., 7 Feb 2009
There is one thing any potential viewer should take into account before watching The Kill point. This isn't a conventional movie but an eight episode mini-series encompassing some 360 minutes so you have to invest a large chunk of time if you want to watch it. The other thing you should be aware of is if you do start watching The Kill point you will probably want to watch it to it's conclusion for it's an extremely well conceived and well acted drama with many visceral set pieces.
A group of tightly knit former U.S. Marines led by Sarge "Mr Wolf ( John Leguizamo) rob a bank in Pittsburgh( where it was actually filmed) but on a making their getaway they encounter an FBI agent who was in the bank at time .A gunfight ensues ,exacerbated by the arrival of the police -called in by another bank customer, and the robbers retreat back into the bank where a hostage situation ensues. Police negotiator Horst Cali( Donnie Wahlberg) takes charge of trying to free the hostages but runs into the bureaucracy of his officious boss and the intransigent arrogance of the FBI negotiator. The hostages meanwhile are plotting their own escape while one of the robbers is clearly on the verge of unravelling . Just to complicate matters further the powerful and rich father of a young hostage is trying to get her out by surreptitiously dealing with the robbers while other ex-members of their squad are also working on the outside in order to extricate them.
The multiple plot strands are woven skilfully together by writer James DeMonaco , who has previous form here having written The Negotiator. The way the viewer is privy to every characters point of view reminded me of The Wire which is apt as several cast members of that show are also in The Kill point. The characterisation is also carefully nuanced so we see the light and shade of each individual .
And unlike a lot of episodic TV shows each episode draws the narrative inexorably towards the exciting conclusion. The Kill Point never feels like it is stalling for time or drawing out the drama unnecessarily though it does take a notable detour with Mr Wolf's speech about the Governments abandonment of Iraqi veterans ( as has been pointed out by other reviewers this draws comparisons with the" Attica" speech in Dog Day Afternoon - Special Edition [1975]) and this is a recurring theme throughout the drama and resonates heavily with the conclusion.
The Kill point will attract criticism because if it's political grandstanding -ref the Iraq invasion - and it's overtly sympathetic portrayal of the robbers. Dramatically on one or two occasions it goes awry - the relationship between Mr Wolf and a traumatised female hostage is overplayed and the ending is way too contrived and redolent of Heat (2 Disc Special Edition) [1995] . The gun battles while exciting are un-realistic , Are we supposed to believe trained soldiers and SWAT would expend so many rounds without hitting anything ? I'm no combat expert but it seemed absurd to me.
Still minor gripes aside this is a gripping drama that forensically examines the minutiae of a violent incident and attempts to manfully wrestle with the human cost and interaction involved .i found myself sitting through the whole thing one Saturday night , even resorting to viewing the extras afterwards( cast interviews only alas) to learn more about it. So fair warning .Once The Kill point zero's it,s crosshairs on you , you will want to see it through till the end.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant, 25 Mar 2009
This is a brilliant drama, I would advise anyone buying this product to buy from the secondhand section as once you have seen it your proberbly not going to watch it in a while (its quite long) so save your self a bit of money.
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