As it turns out, there are still people in Hollywood who want nothing more than to entertain audiences with movies offering a fun escape. It also turns out that it is possible to accomplish that goal without preaching liberalism. One of those people is director John Stalberg. Stalberg helmed such movies as Executive Decision, starring Kurt Russell (1996), Land of Bad (2024), and Muzzle (2023).
Stalberg’s latest film is Muzzle: City of Wolves. It brings back the character Jake Rosser, played by Aaron Eckhart. Rosser, a police officer, suffers from PTSD stemming from his days as a K-9 officer, but when he tries to retire and live peacefully, his wife Mia, and their baby are attacked in their home by a gang looking to settle a score. To follow this film, it helps to have seen the first Muzzle, which sets the stage.
In that first film, Rosser’s fellow officer, a dog, is killed in the middle of a bust during which Rosser overreacts. Rosser is then placed on leave, but instead of resting, he goes on the hunt for the criminals who ruined his life. His new dog, Socks, has also suffered severe trauma. Together, Socks and Rosser help heal each other as they look for the bad guys.
The drug cartels don’t like being messed with, however, and this is where City of Wolves begins. After he escapes an attempted assassination, Rosser and his current canine partner, Argos, explore the vast underbelly of crime, where they uncover widespread corruption and take down many bad guys. Stalberg and screenwriter Jacob Michael King have done something smart by making Rosser a family man; too many action movies feature a stoic loner (John Wick), but in City of Wolves, the stakes are much higher.
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