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Cut Throat City Blu-ray Review

“Cut Throat City” falls victim to crime drama cliches. 

Directed by RZA and written by Paul Cuschieri, “Cut Throat City” is set in a post Hurricane Katrina New Orleans in the Lower Ninth ward in the year 2006. Broke and desperate, 4 friends (Blink, Miracle, Junior and Andrew) turn to crime (robberies) to make some money, but wind up in a bigger hole in which their problems only worsen.

“Cut Throat City” starts off as an intriguing crime drama with a unique time period and location setting that could have had real promise in terms of the actual story. Alas, the post Katrina world of New Orleans is more of a backdrop here than anything else as the overlong film turns into a standard crime drama complete with heists, political and police corruption, a downward spiral trajectory for the main characters, criminal hierarchy, a Detective investigation, and all of the cliches you come to expect. Had the story dug deeper into the Lower Ninth ward world, the FEMA situation, political commentary and everything connected to the Katrina devastation, it would have gone a long way to making “Cut Throat City” a deeper and more complex movie. As is, it’s a surface level crime story about survival with characters in dire need of further characterization.

RZA’s direction also seemed a bit choppy this time around in comparison to his past work. Between the rather cheap looking visuals and the clunky composition of the film, it was decidedly rough around the edges. 

One that thing is certain, however, is that the cast is stacked with talent such as Shameik Moore, T.I., Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, Terrence Howard, Joel David Moore, Kat Graham, Eiza Gonzalez, Demetrius Shipp Jr. and Keean Johnson. Granted, some roles are bigger than others here, but everyone has their moment to shine despite the characters being underwritten. 

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.40:1 1080p. How does it look? Despite how one may feel about the cinematography, the gritty and down to earth style looks decent in hi-def. 

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? It does the job.
Extras:
* DVD copy
* A teaser and a trailer for “Cut Throat City” along with other Well Go USA Entertainment trailers
* 6 deleted scenes
* A 9 minute behind the scenes featurette

October 19, 2020 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | crime drama, RZA, Terrence Howard, Wesley Snipes