This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a film about learning how to set boundaries. If you aren’t comfortable in setting those up then you can be sure that there will always be someone ready to run you over. You have to know what you don’t want to do so that you can’t be pressured into doing it. Well, the main character is about to learn that the hard way. This film ultimately suffers from the issue of not having any real likable characters though. It’s going for a very hood type vibe the whole time and in its pursuit of being as edgy as possible, the writing also ends up taking a huge hit.

The film starts off with Jake getting ready for his first day in his new NARC position. It’s effectively a training evaluation so he will be out all day. It’s supposed to be a very stressful experience so he’s ready for it to be over but will put his best foot forward. Unfortunately his partner is a guy named Alonzo who doesn’t exactly have a rep for following the rules. Alonzo gives him a tough time as soon as he day starts and doesn’t really let up from there. He wants to show Jake how meaningless everything is and how corrupt the area turned out to be. He wants Jake to do things his way or it will be curtains for him. Jake is desperate for a passing grade, but just how far will he end up going here?

I would argue that Jake makes a whole lot of mistakes right from the jump here. For starters it is true that you may have to put up with a certain level of nonsense on the job but direct disrespect is another matter entirely. Jake needed to really be fighting back from the start at the coffee shop when Alonzo was acting crazy but especially once they got in the car and Alonzo is talking about Jake cheating on his wife and trying to objectify their colleagues. Jake needed to put a hard stop to that even if it meant having to look for a new job. Putting up with that nonsense is bad enough because it shows you to be a wallflower but it also continues the decent into madness for the work environment. It’s just not something you can afford to let happen.

I would say Jake had no hope the instant he agreed to do drugs in the car just to keep Alonzo happy. That was just way too far and Jake is meant to be the more heroic cop who sticks up for what’s right. He does make better decisions later on and is obviously better than Alonzo but I would have liked to have seen him hold up a higher standard. I needed a super likable character in this movie to help it take things to the next level. For example, that’s part of why the movie isn’t very fun. Everything is super corrupt to an almost comical degree.

Throughout the film we see how basically everyone is in on the take. Alonzo is able to direct a judge, powerful politicians, and basically doesn’t have to report to work. All of the gangs know him and basically have to listen to the guy because he’s so feared. He’s evidently gotten away with things for a very long time now and we never even get to meet any of the good cops here who could have helped out. It ends up feeling like a very small world, a contrived one at that. There just isn’t really any hope for anybody here. Jake’s only chance is really to get out.

Alonzo does make for an intense antagonist, I’ll give him that much. He is clearly not the kind of guy that you want to go up against because he would murder you without a second thought. He also has a considerable amount of allies so you can’t just go at him without expecting a much larger fight. Maybe it’s for the best that he wasn’t even remotely likable since he’s a complete villain here but it also means that all of the screentime can be extra annoying.

The film also has to really bog us down in the very dark themes to really keep pushing in the point of what a bad area this is. Jake saves a girl from 3 guys who attacked her in an ally and Alonzo would have just left her there. The city is clearly as morally bankrupt as it gets and even after that, Jake follows Alonzo and gets walked into another trap. The whole poker game scene was a terrible look for the guy. Never hand your gun off to a bunch of drug dealers. Yeah he was already outnumbered and in a bad situation but handing over your gun is basically signing your death warrant. You can never do that.

I never understand in these films when someone drops their gun or hands it over for any reason. If you’re in a position where you might die, then you definitely keep your gun so at least the death will be fast as they all shoot back in retaliation. If you hand it over, then you may end up craving death by the time they’re done with you. Just a dumb decision and throughout the film it’s not as though there were any moments where the writing made me grin. All of the jokes are super crude and don’t even seem meant to be funny, the characters all seem evil except for the lead, etc. It’s just not a fun movie to watch as it’s just nonstop depression the whole time.

Overall, Training Day definitely wasn’t as good as I would have hoped. I was expecting a dynamic with one guy who does push the envelope quite a bit but more along the lines of a classic buddy cop film. Not as if the Joker was your partner as you terrorize everyone. If you want a good thriller, watch Die Hard instead. You can do a whole lot better than this film which really doesn’t end up aging well. Good luck finding any happy scenes throughout this film. At least the ending was satisfying.

Overall 3/10