‘The Takedown’ Review: Netflix Buddy Comedy Suffers From Problematic Detours

thewrap.com:

Louis Leterrier  (“Lupin,” “Now You See Me”) directs the film, leading Netflix’s new slate of French-language originals coming to the streaming service.Both films pay homage to ’80s classics like “Lethal Weapon” and “Beverly Hills Cop,” and Sy even regularly sports Axel Foley’s signature baseball jacket and jeans.

Occasionally buddy cop movies, when given good ingredients like a proper script, good physical comedy, and well-executed action scenes, can be a recipe for a comedic blockbuster.“The Takedown,” unfortunately, didn’t stay in the oven long enough.In the previous film, Monge is an upwardly mobile Parisian police detective while Ousmane is a beat cop who grew up poor and bogarted his way onto Monge’s murder investigation.

Divided along class lines, they eventually solve the crime, and Ousmane gains both a promotion and a transfer to a Paris precinct.“The Takedown” picks up years later, and the tables have turned.

Ousmane is a well-liked and efficient police commissioner. While Monge, demoted from Chief of Police position to Deputy in another district, is a condescending misogynist whose occasional racist remarks get him written up by his entire team.The cops are reunited when a man’s torso is found while Monge is picking his parents up from the train station and calls it in.