Copshop is an action movie directed by Joe Carnahan, who previously directed films like the adaptation of The A-Team and more recently Boss Level – and his previous experience shows here. While certainly not high cinema, Carnahan turns in a decent, Tarantino-style action film that is enjoyable enough as long as one does not pull at any of the multiple dangling plot threads that threaten to unravel the whole story if given the slightest tug.

The movie stars Gerald Butler – known for his role as King Leonidas in 300 – as a professional killer hunting Frank Grillo, known for his role as Brock Rumlow in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe films, who plays a fast-talking Vegas con man when both of them end up in the jail of small-town cop Valerie Young, played by Alexis Louder, of Tomorrow War and the TV adaptation of Watchmen fame. As with Carnahan’s previous work, the plot is relatively thin, running on effective dialogue and well-executed action to make up for it. In regard to the former, the movie works reasonably well, with the interplay between Grillo and Butler providing functional if uninspired bad-guy banter while Louder gives the audience someone to root for by being the only decent human being with any significant amount of screen time. As to the latter, the action scenes are strong, pushing just up to the line of cartoonish without overstepping. The action is instigated primarily by latecomer Toby Huss – best known for his voiceover work on King of the Hill – as a psychopath also hunting Grillo. There truly is not much more to say regarding Copshop; it doesn’t have much to offer intellectually but serves as a reasonably enjoyable time-killer.

3 out of 5.

Functional, but unnecessary.