Cop movies, for me anyway, are usually filled with boring dialogue, expensive action sequences and over-dramatic love scenes. I may be a lover of action films, however I'd prefer one that was done correctly and not one that was done just to make some money (i.e The Expendables, and even then I don't think they made nearly as much as they wanted to). And that's the problem with Hollywood these days: producers are willing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in crap movies, however when a director smells actual cinematic gold, they tend to turn their noses. Only when they Oscars come are they livid with regret, wishing they could turn back time to produce that award winner. Sorry for my rant, but I had to say my piece. Anyway, End of Watch isn't like those crappy cop films, in fact it was better than I anticipated. The fact that it wasn't filmed like regular movies made me happy because you get a more intimate look at characters. At some points, I felt like I was watching reality tv and not a movie. And that's how things should be done! It shouldn't feel scripted or rehearsed a thousand times to were it comes "naturally", it should just be.
  Two hot shot cops (Jake Gyllenhaal and Micheal Pena) know the streets of LA. If you give them any reason to not believe you, they will discover the truth. If you give them lip, they'll take off their badges and guns to give you a good, old fashion ass kicking. These are guys are the glowing examples of what cops should be: filled with swagger, virtue oozing of their pores and just enough fearlessness to face some of the scariest stuff the barrio has to offer. And that's exactly what happened. They felt that they couldn't die, no measly gangster could touch them, and ended up discovering the tail of a rattlesnake. That rattlesnake being the Mexican Cartel.
  This film isn't just about being badasses and fighting crime and all that: it's also about heart. Officers Taylor (Gyllenhaal) and Zavala (Pena) were brothers bounded by an oath that was bigger than anyone could write on paper. You saw them on a deeper level than just them at work: you saw them with their families and their romantic partners. They were intertwined in each others' lives. I really enjoyed that aspect because you grow emotionally attached to these guys. When something on screen appeared to be frightening, I prayed in my seat that nothing bad would happen to these two. It's like PB and J without the J, PB would be so lonely without him.
  What makes a film brilliant is a strong skeleton a.k.a the script. Writer and director David Ayer fed this film all the necessary vitamins it needed in order to ripen this film to a gold-plated, ak-47 wielding monster, ready to disturb the peace. The dialogue wasn't cheesy and there were a lot of moments that were really funny. What I hated was that I couldn't tell how long time went by, it felt like a week when it was really 6 months to a year. That makes me feel like I'm going crazy. I also liked that Officer Taylor was filming most of the movie because he wanted to be more than a cop, he wanted to be a lawyer and he took film for his elective. It shows different dimensions to characters. As an audience member, you see their dreams, what they want to be when they grow up and not just how they feel about the problem that's in their face. What I thought was interesting was that the Curb Side Gang (the group that the cops dealt with for the most of the movie and the ones who worked for the cartel) was filming what they were doing too. You saw the intimidation the gang leader carried himself with, the timidness the new guy wanted to find and the fact that the bad girl needs to wear glasses for driving. It's little details that make me happy when I watch movies.
  I don't want to have to type anymore. It's heartbreaking, it's beautiful, it's suspenseful, you need to watch this movie!!!