Summary
There’s no escaping the raw-end of the crime life in this Netflix film. It’s shoved in your face and given to you.
This review of Netflix film Rogue City contains no spoilers. The crime drama came out on the streaming service on October 30, 2020.
Rogue City is one of those foreign gritty crime films where everyone drinks copious amounts of alcohol, smokes 20 cigarettes a day, and are having an affair. The movie reeks of corruption; either a character is corrupt or the corruptor. This is the kind of entertainment that is selfishly thrilling; the carnage and sensationalism are what engages the viewer. This is high-octane and feeds the brain.
The Netflix film follows french cops who are caught in between gang warfare in Marseille. With the tension rising and public pressure for the authorities to deliver, each character has their own intention and loyalties to fit within the incestuous regime. It’s difficult to gauge loyalties — in the first two acts, Rogue City opts to keep the audience at bay while the action unfolds.
There’s also uncertainty in who has the power. Like Narcos there’s an understanding between the cops and the criminals; it’s unspoken respect that we’ve seen plenty of times before in various storylines. The same can be said for Rogue City that lightly deals with power struggles. Of course, as the blurb suggests, the main story is a loyal cop desperate to save his squad by taking matters into his own hands — there’s always a “better egg” amongst a group of flawed and morally corrupt characters.
Rogue City benefits with well-constructed scenes to demonstrate violent shoot-outs — there’s pride in the action as the director opted for a violent angle. There’s no escaping the raw-end of the crime life in this Netflix film. It’s shoved in your face and given to you. These are the type of crime films that work.
There is also an emotional angle to Netflix’s Rogue City. Most of the characters are compromised, and they all have someone they care for dearly. The story reminds viewers that the characters are human and not just a pawn in a violent world.
Viewers can be assured that when they pick Rogue City for movie night, they will not be bored.
