‘Detective Knight: Rogue’ VOD Review
Stars: Beau Mirchoff, Bruce Willis, Trevor Gretzky, Keeya King, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Michael Eklund, Corey Large, Lochlyn Munro | Written by Edward Drake, Corey Large | Directed by Edward Drake
Sometimes I wonder why I punish myself with movies. Case in point, Detective Knight: Rogue. Another in Bruce Willis’ direct-to-market series of films, and yes we all know why he went down the route with his film career; this film comes from filmmakers Edward Drake and Corey Large, two men who between them have made some of the worst films of Willis’ oeuvre – Breach, Apex Predator and American Siege; with only Cosmic Sin, the second of the trio’s collaborations, providing a modicum of interest.
Now those films featured Willis in cameo-like roles, whereas here Willis is the lead, the titular Detective Knight, in what is the first of three films in a brand-new film series. THREE films! It looks, from Willis’ IMDb page like Willis is going out in style, with a three-film trilogy that sees him playing a hardened cop who shoots first and shows you his badge later. Y’know, the kind of “rogue cop” character Willis is synonymous with!
A Heat-esque crime thriller, Detective Knight: Rogue follows criminals Casey (Mirchoff), Mike (Gretzky), Nikki (King), and Mercer (Large) who use their athletic abilities to pull off heists. Only their very first – robbing an armoured money transport truck and stealing over 100 grand – leads to the shooting of cop Fitzgerald (Munro) and sets willis’ titular detective on a path of vengeance all the way to New York, where Casey and his crew are hiding out crime boss Winna (Eklund).
What’s interesting about Detective Knight: Rogue is that apparently Edward Drake had more time, more resources and more support – including editor Justin Williams, who cuts this one at a faster pace, therefore making this more exciting than Drake’s previous films. What’s also interesting is Beau Mirchoff’s character Casey… Whilst the rest of his crew are one-dimensional, hell most of the characters in the film are one-dimensional, Casey is a complex, complicated character – a former football star whose career is cut short by injury and thus he turns to crime to keep up the lifestyle he, and his family, became accustomed to. It’s a remarkably deep cut for a film whose script otherwise follows every cliche in the book!
Building to a crescendo as Knight and Casey team up to take on Winna at his home, Detective Knight: Rogue switches gears as the thriller aspect is dropped in favour of more hard-hitting action, packing the film with combat: gunfights, beatdowns, etc. and upping the dramatic tension tenfold. Then it’s all over, an action-packed final five minutes if you will, that leads to Knight and Casey being arrested with no tease of the already set-for-release sequel. Though judging by the title of the sequel I can guess what the plot will be already. Especially if Drake and Large follow the same cliches and tropes as they did here.
That being said, Detective Knight: Rogue is easily the best film Drake, Large and Willis have made together, with some obvious budgetary increases leading to an all-around better-made film. It does have some issues, in particular the sound at some points but still, I’ll be back for the second part of the trilogy that’s for sure.
**½ 2.5/5
Detective Knight: Rogue is out now on digital.
