Bruce Willis Tries to Protect Mos Def in 16 Blocks
Written: Mar 14 '06 (Updated May 05 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cast. Good plot. Suspenseful scenes.
Cons: Def's voice can be annoying and hard to understand. Few slower spots.
The Bottom Line: 16 Blocks was a very entertaining police movie. Fans of Bruce Willis or Richard Donner's movies should give it a chance.
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| dragonfire88's Full Review: 16 Blocks |
Bruce Willis and Richard Donner have both made several action movies during their careers. I’ve enjoyed most of the movies that both of them have made. The two men finally teamed up to work on the same movie for 16 Blocks.
Jack Mosley was a cop in New York City that seemed to be burned out. He got assignments that no one else wanted, like waiting with dead bodies in an apartment. He’d worked all night and was heading home when he was stopped and given another assignment. He had to take Eddie Bunker, a man in police custody, 16 blocks to the courthouse to testify by 10:00. Traffic was horrible and Jack stopped just a few minutes after leaving the station to go into a liquor store. He got out just in time to stop someone that was trying to kill Eddie. They hid out in a bar until two other detectives, one being Jack’s old partner Frank, arrived. Frank was going to take over but for some reason Jack didn’t leave. Then he learned that Eddie was going to testify against some corrupt police officers. Frank was leading the group of officers that was determined to keep Eddie from getting to court. Jack didn’t look the other way and left the bar with Eddie, endangering his own life in the process. Jack was determined to get Eddie to court on time.
The first few minutes of 16 Blocks introduced Jack and showed how he ended up with the lousy assignments. He looked really run down and didn’t seem to care about his work. He was over weight and had a bad leg. He was tired and just wanted to go home, drink, and sleep. The pace was a little bit slower during that section, but I didn’t think it was boring. It was necessary to establish Jack. His decision to help Eddie was very out of character for him and that was clear to the audience because of how Jack was first shown. Once Jack and Eddie were on the run, the pace picked up. The movie kept the faster pace up for most of the rest of the movie. I never thought any part of the movie was rushed. It did slow back down a few times. It did seem like one or two scenes dragged on just a little bit longer than they really needed to. Even those few scenes didn’t bore me.
16 Blocks followed Jack’s attempts to get Eddie safely to court in time to testify. He had around two hours to get there. At first it seemed like the obstacle to getting there in time was the horrible traffic. Complications popped up when someone tried to kill Eddie and he and Jack were forced to run for their lives. Jack didn’t know why Eddie was testifying when they started their trip. It wasn’t really clear why someone would be trying to kill Eddie when it happened either. It didn’t take long for that to be cleared up though, which really took care of the small amount of mystery that was in the movie. I did think that the rest of the movie remained interesting and more things were revealed as the movie progressed. Jack and Eddie ended up in several very dangerous situations that helped to add some suspense to what was going on. A few things that happened were somewhat predictable, but there were also other things that happened that surprised me.
Bruce Willis has been in a lot of action movies that have included all kinds of explosions. Richard Donner has directed several action movies that had lots of explosions in them. 16 Blocks did have action in it without it turning into a mindless action movie with just one explosion after another. This movie had an actual plot and just included some action elements. There were only a few very small explosions late in the movie. I think it was more of a drama/thriller movie than action movie. The action that was in the movie was added by a few fights and some shoot outs. More than one character was shot and blood was shown. The violence really wasn’t that graphic, but it may be too violent for some viewers. I do think the movie is too violent for children to see. This isn’t a movie that children would be interested in seeing anyway.
Jack isn’t the first cop that Bruce Willis has played. He isn’t even the first cop that seems on the verge of burn out that Willis has played. Jack did seem to be in worse physical condition than any of the other cops he’s played. Not to much about Jack’s life was known, though it did slow come out that he had some issues. He wasn’t as developed as he could have been. I didn’t think that hurt the movie. A little more came out about Eddie during the course of the movie. He had a police record in the past and had plans for turning his life around. He talked a lot throughout the movie. I’m not sure if Eddie always talked that much of if it was a reaction to be in a stressful situation. Mos Def was good in the part, though the voice he used for the character was a bit annoying. It was just a little too high pitched or something and I did have some trouble understanding him a few times. I don’t remember him sounding anything like that in The Italian Job or The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. As the movie continued his voice didn’t annoy me as much. He did a good job with the part.
Frank Nugent and Jack had been partners for twenty years. Something had happened a few years before the movie started that ended their partnership. Frank seemed nice at first before it was shown that he was leading a group of cops that wanted to make sure that Eddie didn’t testify. He turned out to be a not so nice person. David Morse was really good in the part. I’ve seen him play more than one not so nice character. He is good at those types of roles. His character wasn’t too nice in Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story either. Several other cops were involved with Frank in trying to stop Eddie. None of them were really developed, but that worked all right for the movie. Steve Kahn, who has been in several Richard Donner movies, had a very small part as a restaurant owner.
Main Cast
Mos Def - Eddie Bunker
David Morse - Frank Nugent
Bruce Willis - Jack Mosley
Richard Donner - Director
16 Blocks had a few small problems but was a very interesting and entertaining movie. Fans of Bruce Willis, especially his more serious police movies, may also enjoy this one.
Bruce Willis Reviews
The Fifth Element ~ The Whole Ten Yards ~ Hostage ~
Recommended:
Yes
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