The trailer for End of Watch is a shoot em up found footage smorgasbord

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

I know that the idea of a found footage movie involving the police is not exactly new considering how long COPS has been on television, but the idea of using it for an action/drama does seem to be cashing in on the gimmick. David Ayer’s (HARSH TIMES, STREET KINGS) new film END OF WATCH looks to be doing just that.

Synopsis: A powerful story of family, friendship, love, honor and courage, “End of Watch” stars Gyllenhaal and Peña as young Los Angeles police officers Taylor and Zavala as they patrol the city’s meanest streets of south central Los Angeles. Giving the story a gripping, first-person immediacy, the action unfolds entirely through footage from the handheld HD cameras of the police officers, gang members, surveillance cameras, and citizens caught in the line of fire to create a riveting portrait of the city’s most dangerous corners, the cops who risk their lives there every day, and the price they and their families are forced to pay.

Having written the screenplay for both of his two prior directorial outings as well as TRAINING DAY, S.W.A.T., and DARK BLUE, Ayer definitely knows his cops. Watching this trailer I didn’t feel that it was bringing anything new or unique. The found footage idea does seem to work but, just like on COPS, when the officer carries a camera into the line of fire it makes you question their judgement as a lawman.

END OF WATCH opens on September 28. 2012