Good Cops vs Bad Cops

Tonight's marathon is about the representation of both good and bad cops. This lineup gives a healthy balance of the morals of cops whether it being righteous or criminal. There has been alot that's been said in the media about police being both positive and negative, but what this marathon will attempt to show is that there is a battle going on between good vs evil, right and wrong. That becomes evident in the final movie of the evening with Training Day. The message behind the rest of the marathon is that not all cops are as bad as people say and there are one's who are great at what they do, and simply are fighting to get back home at the end of the day. For that reasoning, they deserve our respect because they choose to do a job that most people wouldn't feel comfortable with. We have on our menu for this evening:

                         SWAT 2003, End of Watch 2012, Bad Boys ll 2003, and Training Day 2001

We begin the evening with the film SWAT starring Samuel Jackson, Colin Ferrall, Jeremy Renner, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, and Oliver Martinez. SWAT centers around an imprisoned drug kingpin who offers a cash reward to anyone that breaks him out of jail leaving only the LAPD's Special Weapons and Tactics team to prevent it from happening. SWAT is a thrilling start because it raises ethical questions such as should SWAT shoot a hostage to get them away from the ciminal to catch them and shows the human side of a SWAT team, portraying them as friends and sometimes family. In this case, this team is out to prove themselves worthy of the name given to them. The second film in the lineup takes things to a much darker tone with the critically acclaimed cop drama End Of Watch. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Michael Pena, the film is shot documentary style and follows a daily life of two young police officers in Los Angeles who are both partners and friends. The twist is they meet criminal forcs that are far greater than themselves forcing them to put it all on the line. Whereas SWAT introduces the theme of teamwork and unity between cops, End of Watch takes a darker approach and shows a more realistic environment and obstacles that cops face on a day in and day out basis. The third film in the lineup takes the action to the extreme with Michael Bay's Bad Boys ll. Whereas the cops in the first two are heroic, these guys are loose-cannons who are forced to investigate the flow of Ecstacy in Florida. The point this film tries to show compared to the others is these cops might not follow the rules of a police officer by the book, but when they get the job done, they do it amazingly well. The fourth and final film in the lineup is the ultimate classic battle between good vs evil with Training Day starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. Generally hailed as being Denzel Washington's finest hour as an actor and one of the definitive cop movies of all time, Training Day places our protagonist Jake Hoyt played by Ethan Hawke on his first day on the job as a Los Angeles narcotics officer. Being a rookie cop, he goes on a 24-hour training course with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears to be. The character of Alonzo Harris played by Denzel Washington is one of the most iconic movie villains ever, and shows how terrible cops can ultimately be, and Jake representing the best of what they can be also.

So what are these movies ultimately trying to say with their messages. SWAT says that sometimes doing everything by the book isn't necessarily the right thing. End of Watch says that the bond between two police officers can ultimately prove to be very strong, almost like brothers. Bad Boys ll drives home this message further with friendship being the strongest bond. Training Days final message says that you don't have to behave like a criminal in order to get the criminals.

Our heroes and villains for this evening: