Miss the old-school fun of 70s action movies? Apparently, plenty of Netflix subscribers do, because a modern movie that’s clearly inspired by older classics is currently the most-watched movie on the platform in the UK.
Copshop, starring Frank Grillo and Gerard Butler, was added to the streamer on Tuesday, August 22. It leaped onto Netflix’s most-watched movies list straight away and, at the time of writing two days later, it’s sitting comfortably at #1 on the rankings.
Gerard Butler in Copshop
The movie follows a hitman (Butler) who’s deliberately incarcerated in order to get close to a con artist (Grillo) who’s hiding in a lockup in order to avoid his many pursuers.
Alexis Louder also stars as a new police officer trying to get to the bottom of things and Toby Huss as a secondary killer who also wants the bounty.
This is not a talky character drama though, and the movie is full of gunfights, fistfights and dialogue fights, with lots of gritty action and more backstabbing than your average game of Monopoly.
Released mid-pandemic in 2021, the movie was a hit with reviewers, with an 83% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score that’s only slightly lower.
Lots of reviews compare it to ’70s police action films, with director Joe Carnahan possibly inspired by the likes of Dirty Harry, Death Wish and Assault on Precinct 13.
Carnahan himself is no stranger to action, having directed The Grey, the movie adaptation of The A-Team, Smokin’ Aces and Boss Level.
The movie was a big deal for its lead actor. Gerard Butler has starred in a wide range of action films over the last few years, from the pretty good (Plane, Copshop) to the not-so-good (Greenland, London Has Fallen, Geostorm, Den of Thieves, Gods of Egypt, the list goes on).
But movie fans probably still remember him fondly from his older hits like 300, Law Abiding Citizen and RocknRolla, with the actor starring in fewer modern hits.
Could this spree turn around? His upcoming movies include sequels to Greenland and Den of Thieves so we’ll have to see. But if you want to see a good modern Gerard Butler movie, maybe Copshop is the one for you.