bruce willis + mustache = child molester
it's been a while since updates and even longer since i've posted one of my reviews ... so i'll kill two brids with one stone.
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Bruce Willis as a burnt out cop with a bad attitude towards life and everyone in it. How many times have we seen this character from Willis? One would think that it would be beginning to get old by now, but he is typecast in films that just keep on coming. The new Richard Donner film, 16 BLOCKS, has the same thing that we have seen a bunch of times before, with nothing new to transcend to that next level of action flick.
Alcoholic, out of shape NYPD officer Jack Mosley (Willis) comes off of his night shift and is on his way out the door when he is given the task of transporting a witness from the lock up down to the court house in the next two hours. After much grumbling he picks “the kid”, Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), up and is on the way. Mosley stops to go into a liquor store and comes out just in time as an assassination attempt is made on his cargo. They run and hide out in a bar where he learns that Eddie is a witness in a case against a crooked cop that would bring down a lot of Jack’s dirty co-workers, including his old partner. Choosing to do the right thing for once, he goes against all of his “brothers” and tries his damnedest to get Eddie to his court appointment with the majority of the NYPD on his heels.
A new action movie coming from the man that brought the LEATHAL WEAPON series out gives a lot of hope for a good time. While there is plenty to keep you occupied during film, it is not enough to put it at the level that the LEATHAL WEAPON movies, or Willis’ DIE HARD films had. An interesting thing about this movie was the fact that it is released with a PG-13. There is some bad language and violence but it is not really on par with most other films like it. That really did not hurt the film at all, and will make the editing quicker when it gets played on TBS someday.
The story could have been a little more interesting if the sequence of events all happened in real time. At the beginning Mosley is told, more than once, that he has 118 minutes to get Bunker the 16 blocks to the courthouse, and quite regularly the time is made aware to the audience. Not that this movie should have been dragged out another 20-30 minutes, but they could have given him 90 minutes to get the job done and everything could have gone by minute for minute. Maybe even give Kiefer Sutherland a small cameo.
On the acting front everyone seems to do a descent job, no matter how annoying their voices might be. Even though Mos Def’s character had this nasal whiny quality in his voice he still manages to surprise me with every film. This is nothing as good as his work in THE WOODSMAN but definitely keeps the movie going at times as a bit of the comic relief. Willis is his usual self, except he’s got a bit of a beer gut that should tone down his sex appeal for this flick and looks pretty child molester-like with that mustache. His trademark gun shooting, tight lipped smirk did not even make an appearance in the film, which was kind of disappointing, but I guess everyone has to branch out at some point (or maybe it was just hiding behind the ‘stache).
Overall an alright film that is well shot and acted, backed up by a reasonable script that will not bore you into an hour and a half nap. Not necessarily something to rush out to, but it will not hurt you to see it.
3.5/5
herorealm.com
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Bruce Willis as a burnt out cop with a bad attitude towards life and everyone in it. How many times have we seen this character from Willis? One would think that it would be beginning to get old by now, but he is typecast in films that just keep on coming. The new Richard Donner film, 16 BLOCKS, has the same thing that we have seen a bunch of times before, with nothing new to transcend to that next level of action flick.
Alcoholic, out of shape NYPD officer Jack Mosley (Willis) comes off of his night shift and is on his way out the door when he is given the task of transporting a witness from the lock up down to the court house in the next two hours. After much grumbling he picks “the kid”, Eddie Bunker (Mos Def), up and is on the way. Mosley stops to go into a liquor store and comes out just in time as an assassination attempt is made on his cargo. They run and hide out in a bar where he learns that Eddie is a witness in a case against a crooked cop that would bring down a lot of Jack’s dirty co-workers, including his old partner. Choosing to do the right thing for once, he goes against all of his “brothers” and tries his damnedest to get Eddie to his court appointment with the majority of the NYPD on his heels.
A new action movie coming from the man that brought the LEATHAL WEAPON series out gives a lot of hope for a good time. While there is plenty to keep you occupied during film, it is not enough to put it at the level that the LEATHAL WEAPON movies, or Willis’ DIE HARD films had. An interesting thing about this movie was the fact that it is released with a PG-13. There is some bad language and violence but it is not really on par with most other films like it. That really did not hurt the film at all, and will make the editing quicker when it gets played on TBS someday.
The story could have been a little more interesting if the sequence of events all happened in real time. At the beginning Mosley is told, more than once, that he has 118 minutes to get Bunker the 16 blocks to the courthouse, and quite regularly the time is made aware to the audience. Not that this movie should have been dragged out another 20-30 minutes, but they could have given him 90 minutes to get the job done and everything could have gone by minute for minute. Maybe even give Kiefer Sutherland a small cameo.
On the acting front everyone seems to do a descent job, no matter how annoying their voices might be. Even though Mos Def’s character had this nasal whiny quality in his voice he still manages to surprise me with every film. This is nothing as good as his work in THE WOODSMAN but definitely keeps the movie going at times as a bit of the comic relief. Willis is his usual self, except he’s got a bit of a beer gut that should tone down his sex appeal for this flick and looks pretty child molester-like with that mustache. His trademark gun shooting, tight lipped smirk did not even make an appearance in the film, which was kind of disappointing, but I guess everyone has to branch out at some point (or maybe it was just hiding behind the ‘stache).
Overall an alright film that is well shot and acted, backed up by a reasonable script that will not bore you into an hour and a half nap. Not necessarily something to rush out to, but it will not hurt you to see it.
3.5/5
herorealm.com