Early in the movie there was a discourse between Nick Styles (Denzel Washington) and Odessa (Ice-T) that was a prelude to Denzel Washington in his Oscar role in Training Day. Seeing that was very exciting. Now, unfortunately, the rest of the movie wouldn't be on the level of Training Day but it was still good.
Earl Talbot Blake (John Lithgow) was put behind bars in 1984 by Officer Nick Styles. From that day until Blake was able to secure his release in 1991 he'd been planning his revenge. The revenge was well coordinated and pretty much flawless. A little too flawless.
I appreciated Blake's commitment, preparation, and execution. It was a creative plan he authored to not simply kill Styles, but to destroy his life. But the plan was so grandiose and so elaborate that it defied all reason and feasibility. As I've mentioned in other reviews: elaborate plans that rely on so many moving parts and rely upon predicting the precise actions of another human being are just too far-fetched and unrealistic for me to swallow.
Still, even with that aspect and flaw I thought the movie was good. It offered action, a decent plot, and of course good acting from Washington and Lithgow. Washington was the suave, upwardly mobile cop turned DA while Lithgow was the seething psychopathic megalomaniac with a burning desire to destroy his enemy. They were an excellent mesh.
