16 Blocks 3/5 reviewed by Mike
I love Richard Donner, mostly because he made the first Superman movie, and that holds a special place in my heart. But he's also made plenty of other movies that have a special place for me--things like The Goonies, and The Lethal Weapon series. This guy's been making cool movies since before I was in diapers.
16 Blocks is no exception. The plot is simple enough--A beaten down cop (who is less than honest about his work) played by Bruce Willis has to take a prisoner (Mos Def) down to the courthouse for a hearing. Normal-day stuff. Until the people this prisoner is going to incriminate show up to kill him. It gets interesting real fast.
I was worried that this movie would be Die Hard: With a Moustache. But it isn't--it's very well directed by Donner. And he doesn't even have to work hard to get great performances from his actors. This movie is all about the acting. Bruce Willis is perfect in this role--he's not an action hero, he's an alcoholic, depressed, leech of a cop who gets in a bad situation. And he acts like a depressed alcoholic throughout the movie--despite it's "action-ness," this story is more about character, which makes it much more interesting to watch. Even Mos Def does a good job.
The plot is a little predictable, and there's plenty of things that you see coming. The writing is good but not great--the dialouge is sometimes contrived, but the brilliant acting more than makes up for it. I would, however, loved to have seen what Willis could have done with this same character had the dialouge been better. But it's hardly noticeable once the movie kicks into gear. With a little more effort into the writing, this movie could have been a 4, but it's a pretty high 3 as it is. It's more than worth it to see Willis and Donner at the top of their respective games.
See this movie if:
-You like movies where cops are the bad guys
-You like action movies, but wish the characters were deeper
-You're tired of big-budget, Hollywood re-hashes
Don't see this movie if:
-You're expecting Die-Hard: With a Moustache
-You hate Cop movies with all of your body
-You need a love interest to keep you interested
16 Blocks is no exception. The plot is simple enough--A beaten down cop (who is less than honest about his work) played by Bruce Willis has to take a prisoner (Mos Def) down to the courthouse for a hearing. Normal-day stuff. Until the people this prisoner is going to incriminate show up to kill him. It gets interesting real fast.
I was worried that this movie would be Die Hard: With a Moustache. But it isn't--it's very well directed by Donner. And he doesn't even have to work hard to get great performances from his actors. This movie is all about the acting. Bruce Willis is perfect in this role--he's not an action hero, he's an alcoholic, depressed, leech of a cop who gets in a bad situation. And he acts like a depressed alcoholic throughout the movie--despite it's "action-ness," this story is more about character, which makes it much more interesting to watch. Even Mos Def does a good job.
The plot is a little predictable, and there's plenty of things that you see coming. The writing is good but not great--the dialouge is sometimes contrived, but the brilliant acting more than makes up for it. I would, however, loved to have seen what Willis could have done with this same character had the dialouge been better. But it's hardly noticeable once the movie kicks into gear. With a little more effort into the writing, this movie could have been a 4, but it's a pretty high 3 as it is. It's more than worth it to see Willis and Donner at the top of their respective games.
See this movie if:
-You like movies where cops are the bad guys
-You like action movies, but wish the characters were deeper
-You're tired of big-budget, Hollywood re-hashes
Don't see this movie if:
-You're expecting Die-Hard: With a Moustache
-You hate Cop movies with all of your body
-You need a love interest to keep you interested
posted by Hankinstien at 5:18 PM
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