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Techtite's DVD Reviews! |
"Personally, I felt this was the best action movie in 2006, and frankly, one of the best movies period." --from the review ------------- Sidebar :: ------------- No sidebar comments for this review. Yet...
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16 Blocks
Click picture to order this DVD (Widescreen) Also Available in: Full Screen, Blu-Ray, and Combo HD (HD/DVD included!) A Review by TechtiteAs always, a review of The Film and the DVD extras. Film Review: There's a new form of trolling online, that looks for a new film's weakest of similarities to an old film, and cries that it's an unaccredited "rip-off" of said film. To wit: trolling online claims 16 Blocks is a rip-off a 1970's Clint Eastwood film called The Gauntlet. This would be a very interesting trick indeed, when cellular phones are pivotal to the plot of Blocks, and yet cel phones did not even exist until the late 1980's. This is to say: this film may look slightly similar to a film you saw before, but it is no less powerful. Which is to say it blew me away. It's not that I didn't see similarities with this film's core story and earlier crime thrillers. A down on his luck cop named Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is given the simple task of driving a protected witness named Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) just "16 Blocks" to the courthouse. Wouldn't you know it: Jack couldn't care less at first, but he develops a conscience along the way. In addition, Eddie is just plain annoying, and simply won't stop talking. By all accounts this Richard Donner film is an extended version of the side story of "Leo Getz" in Lethal Weapon 2, only now it's the central story, and Eddie makes Leo Getz look like Winnie the Pooh. All the above plot elements you've probably read before. Yet in a film directed by "Lethal Weapon" Donner and with a cast led by "Die Hard" Willis, it would've been hard for this to not be a good action flick, and it is. Yet what really surprised me was how excellently performed and filmed this movie is. In the subtle opening scene, Jack Mosley is asked to simply sit around a crime scene and wait for the "men in blue" to take over from there. Mosley strolls into the kitchen of this complete stranger's apartment, finds some whiskey, and has himself a drink. In any other typical situation, this would be the end of the film, with Jack ruining a crime scene and his superiors firing him on the spot. Only nothing happens...because nobody cares. It is a subtle yet brilliant way to begin the story that transpires. In case you didn't figure it out yet, this is not an easy "16 Block" ride. Eddie is a witness to a major crime, and those involved in the crime want him deader than disco. Heck; they want him deader than Gigli. Since it happens in the first 10 or so minutes of film, I presume it's safe to reveal to you that those who want him dead are members of Jack's own precinct. In fact they want Jack to finish the job himself, or at worst, just walk away while they do it for him. He does neither, all of 16 blocks from the courtroom. What's more; the witness must be in court by ten or else the prosecution has no case and the bad guys walk away. The race is on to make sure this doesn't happen. What impressed me so much with this action film is how realistic both the protagonist's and antagonist's action are, to reach their wanted goals. Every "Why didn't they do this or that" idea you can come up with is addressed. Why don't they just call someone on their cel phone? Why don't they try to get help from someone in an apartment building halfway there? Doesn't Jack have any friends' apartments he can crash for additional supplies along the way? Most importantly; aren't the bad guys smart enough to figure out all the above...eventually? The answer to all of this is yes, leading to very believable suspense along the way. The biggest kudos, however, must go to Mos Def, whose performance as Eddie is right on the very thin line between "enjoyably obnoxious" and "rather annoying." While it's true Eddie doesn't shut up, what he's saying is actually pretty interesting. What's more; it's pretty intelligent, and not some sort of Jar-Jar Binks ramble on the way to Naboo. One question in particular has Eddie stumped, about who someone would save if they could only save their best friend, their lover, or someone who saved their life. Something like that; it was hard to remember every word he said without writing it down. It was all interesting conversation though. Overall this is at worst a very well done popcorn action flick; the first good one of its kind this year. Yet anyone who bothers to look closer will see a very enjoyable tale of the ability for someone to do the right thing against impossible odds, and finally grow a heart in the worst of scenarios. Be sure to see it with your lover and your friend someday...but don't tell them the answer to Eddie's question anytime soon. Then again; Jack's answer to the question at film's end was the best possible.
The DVD Extras!: Man; someone sure loved this film, didn't they? Four different versions of this film are available on disc. What follows is a summary of both the regular DVD "widescreen" and "full screen" versions. We can presume the high definition HD and Blu-Ray versions have the same extras, though we didn't have either of those discs for this particular review. Not that there's a lot to report. There's an alternate ending, which is an ending, so it's hard to "review" here without spoilers...and we know how much people often hate spoilers. There are also deleted scenes though nothing terribly worth reporting, and of course the original trailer. Yet the real sales pitch of this DVD is not the extra material: it's the fact that this film was so good, it warranted versions of the film on every digital disc format currently available. That alone should tell you how great a film this was. If not, just take our word on it.
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