On The Scene: HBO’s “We Own This City” Series Premieres in New York City [Video]

The “We Own This City” series premiere started off by giving me A$AP Ferg music video vibes with it’s fast and detailed editing, showcasing archival footage of the police department, Baltimore and it’s civilians, through overlapping photographs, colorfully highlighted text, and documentary-style videos, that all pause and fast- forward in a moment’s notice.

The adrenaline-induced plot follows several stories simultaneously, which I absolutely enjoyed because right when a character’s story was getting intense, the cliff hanger left you wanting more! If you love action films as much as plots based on true stories, you’ll be a huge fan! Having multiple plots at once makes the stories very realistic since we are seeing the behind-the-scenes lives of the policeman and politicians, and how everyone is reacting to the same events in town in different departments. This gives the audience an insight and clue into the domino effect that will occur next, before the chronological events effect all the characters that are involved.  The Director of Oscar-Nominated Motion Picture,”King Richard,” Reinaldo Marcus Green definitely brought a grand and bold vision to the series.

I was extremely impressed by Actors Jon Bernthal and Josh Charles. The characters they created were complete transformations. They showcased dramatic range with their body language, personalities, and mannerisms. When they walked on stage afterwards for the panel discussion, their natural presence confirmed the 180 degree transformation that took place – from aggressive, loud, and cold characters, to warm, friendly, and gentle human beings, and that kind of commitment to creating their characters definitely didn’t go about unnoticed.