Category: Action

Flying Under the Radar

Devotion -2022 – PG13

I’d been admiring the trailer for Devotion so caught the film on opening day but somehow missed it being based on a true story until the end credits rolled featuring dual photos of the actors with their real life counterparts. Had I known that fact, it would have softened my critical attitude towards the inordinate amount of film time dedicated to character development of military hero Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors). After the first hour and only one combat scene, I was simmering and grumbling about a war movie with no action. And no, the obligatory and predictable shore leave bar fight doesn’t count. 

When the story shifted from the Mediterranean to Korea, the action picked up and I perked up. Then I was able to better appreciate the historic role Jesse Brown played as a racial pioneer, the U.S. Navy’s first African-American pilot, and to digest Brown’s race defying relationship with his white wingman, Lt. Tom Hudner (Glen Powell). Tom was the product of a wealthy New England family, Jesse was born into a family of sharecroppers who lived in a shack. The film pinnacle caught me completely off guard. Remember, I’m still thinking Devotion a work of fiction, spun to shed light on America’s “forgotten war” using an unlikely pairing of two pilots as the plot vehicle. So when I learned the truth, it was a stunning revelation. I can’t give away the climax without playing spoiler but you will know immediately when it happens, a moment of true heroism and brotherhood, yes, an act of pure devotion that will inspire and stir you through inescapable tears. 

On the technical side, the too long film (139 minutes) needed editing, starting out painstakingly slow and including curious dialogues that did not advance the story; sound quality was inexplicably murky at times; cinematography unnecessarily shadowy except for the aerial scenes which were sensational. It’s a great story on many levels but if I’m entirely honest, I’d stick with the 2017 book, Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam Makos. I hear the film closely mirrors the book. Or read the book first and see the movie after to fully appreciate the amazing and uplifting heroism, service and friendship of Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner.  

Water, Water Everywhere

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – 2022 – PG13

As a kid growing up in the 1960s, comic books were a huge part of my summer reading pleasure, but I was a total DC fan, Superman my hero, Aquaman runner-up. Marvel did not figure in the mix which explains why I missed the genesis of Wakanda in July 1966’s Fantastic Four. Black Panther was a complete unknown to me until the film was released in 2018 and lit up the Academy Awards, nominated for seven, winning three, and the first superhero movie ever to receive Best Picture nomination. So when the sequel, Wakanda Forever was released, it was a must-see on my list. 

What worked: The opening tribute to Chadwick Boseman was creative and touching. Boseman won international accolades for playing the Black Panther, tragically dying in 2020 after battling colon cancer since 2016, unbeknownst to the Marvel universe.  A film featuring the strength and courage of women is a timely balance to the concurrently released Harvey Weinstein exposé She Said and the narcissistic #MeToo saga TÁR. Angela Bassett (Queen Ramonda), Letitia Wright (Princess Shuri), Lupita Nyong’o (T’Challa’s lover and spy Nakia),  Danai Gurira (General Okoye) and Dominique Thorne (MIT student Riri Williams) create a formidable female team as they take on a new undersea enemy. And therein lies what didn’t work.

This new enemy is the Vibranium rich underwater kingdom of Talokan led by King Namor, a feathered serpent god. Vibranium, formed from a meteorite collision with Earth, is the strongest metal in the world, rare and extremely expensive, an asset Wakanda, thinking it only theirs, hid for years. King Namor talks Princess Shuri into a tour of Talokan and meeting the blue-skinned water-breathing superhumans which he has protected from discovery for centuries. Carrying a grudge towards  “the surface world” for enslaving the Maya, Namor proposes an alliance with Wakanda to torch this surface world but  threatens to first annihilate Wakanda if they refuse. Call me pollyanna but harboring bitterness for five centuries seems excessive. Why not wreck havoc and revenge after maybe 100 years rather than 500? Why wait? And Namor threatening to destroy Wakanda, a civilization with which Talokan shares similar roots, treasures and challenges, feels arbitrary and contrived. Two powerful, intelligent nations with common interests, common identities and no historic or contemporary conflicts between each other, now wage an absurd war that consumes the (very, very long) movie. So much water. So much mayhem.

Queen Ramonda faces some United Nations type interrogation about hoarding vibranium.  And then the CIA and Navy Seals use a vibranium-detecting machine to locate a deposit in the Atlantic. And then Namor intercepts and wipes them out. And then Namor  demands that Shuri, who kidnaps Riri for her own protection, to return Riri, who made the machine for a school project, to Talokan for execution. Whew! Oh, and then there is the heart-shaped herb pressed into magical action. Oh, and so is the Midnight Angel armor. And then, and then, and then…..too long, too convoluted, too nonsensical. Film editing apparently is out. Snooze. Sigh. Oh, and then my final comment: don’t leave before the credits roll or you will miss the groundwork for Wakanda the sequel. Sigh.

Great Balls of Fire!

Top Gun: Maverick – 2022 – PG13

Curbing my enthusiasm was not in the cards when I heard TG2 would be released on my June 2020 birthday! Girls night out! Top Gun hats for party favors! And then came Covid, pandemic, quarantine. Grounded! Instead I celebrated with a small group of intrepid, socially distanced friends for a backyard projection of the 1986 original. When the sequel was finally released this summer, two years later than expected and 36 years after cult favorites Maverick, Iceman and Goose roared overhead and buzzed the control tower, true confessions, it felt a tiny bit anticlimactic. Tiny. But once settled into the theater, everything was right with the sky and I even did my best to drum the sparse, docile crowd into a Super Hornet jet frenzy with cheers and applause. The film is a blast, full of ridiculous human drama and a military mission straight from Star Wars, but such loud fun!

Two gripes though: one, the whole Rooster-son-of-tragically-killed-TG1-Goose grudge storyline detracted from the ensemble of characters. Too much unnecessary tension. Two, ghosting Charlie (Kelly McGillis) with Penny (Jennifer Connelly) as Maverick’s TG2 new love interest might make sense from a casting point of view but I needed Charlie to minimally make a cameo! Boo! However, kudos to the producers for Iceman Val Kilmer’s inclusion. He is one of my all time favorite actors (Doc Holliday in Tombstone, epic!) who, surviving throat cancer, needed AI technology and archival audio for his voice to be recreated. The exchange between Cruise and Kilmer made me absolutely verklempt.

All in all, locked and loaded with superb action, defying stunts, booms and blasts, gasps and laughs….buckle up for an emotional and aerial big screen adventure. EXACTLY why I go to the movies! Now, if I could just figure out how to buzz the projection room! Goodness gracious, great balls of fire!

Bond Bust

No Time to Die – 2021 – PG13

First of all, I’m not a James Bond aficionado, my most vivid memory will show my age: a sleek woman covered in gold, unfortunately dead from the dreaded “skin suffocation” revealed five plus decades ago in Goldfinger, 007’s third movie. That said, let me offer a few reflections on installment #25, No Time to Die. My summary comment and accompanying suggestion is this: settle down and watch 2015’s Spectre in order to prepare for this 2021 storyline. Otherwise you risk spending the entire 163 minute run time wondering what, who and why—like I did. Until I got home and read a few reviews I thought Spectre was an incognito character, only to be illuminated that it’s a long established (genesis 1965’s  Thunderball) international criminal organization, Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion. Then there is the mayhem at Vesper’s tomb, a pivotal plot moment that, without any prior context, I puzzled over the chaos to the point of dozing off. If I don’t know the characters it’s a stretch to care and, apparently for me, stay awake. Admittedly my reclining heated theater lounge chair didn’t help. After ho-humming through the human carnage from bombs, guns, knives and car chases across Italy, Cuba and London, my more alert moments were in Norway when young Madeleine witnesses the murder of her mother by bad boy Safin (Rami Malek) in a failed attempt to kill Madeleine’s bad guy father. Definitely broke the big screen ice. I also perked up in Jamaica where James (Daniel Craig) retires to a life of isolated, fishing bliss only to be talked back into global spy action by the British Secret Service’s new 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch), and Bond’s reconnection with grown up Madeleine (Léa Seydoux) after a five year hiatus since a sadly severed love affair. A sweet Norwegian surprise is tucked away. The charming revelation awaits but, but, but….the Madeline/James rekindled romance is too May-December for me. Not quite dirty old man but a tiny bit ewwww. The finalé is staged at an abandoned World War 2 submarine base on an island between Japan and Russia, Safin’s eve of destruction nanobot headquarters. The destiny of untold millions of humans are at stake. Shocking. Positively shocking.  Can Bond open the silo doors to enable a missile strike and save humanity? What do you think? Uh……fill in the obvious blank. Relax and relish the epic annihilation. What’s in 007’s cinematic future? This film will leave you wondering. No concrete ideas to offer except whoever or whatever’s next, without a doubt the name’s Bond. James Bond.

Birds of a Feather Fight Together

Birds of Prey – 2020 – R

The last time I was motivated by a movie to go total badass was in 1969. True confession, right after seeing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I started shooting up the parking lot with my imaginary six-guns while scanning the shopping center for a bank to rob. Forgive me, I was young and impressionable. Five decades later, leaving the theater after watching Birds of Prey, I started practicing spins, kicks and jabs walking to my car. Good thing there was no one near the theater to head butt or leg sweep or Karate Kid Crane Kick! Forgive me, I’m old and impressionable.

Females dominate Birds of Prey. It is written, directed, and produced by women; features a ridiculously brilliant soundtrack that includes 15 exclusive new tracks, all from female artists; and stars five diverse women who clearly relish their roles. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) exudes the confidence and sheer brassiness of a reigning D.C. moll except she’s on her own. Jilted by Joker, her madman oasis of security is now a mirage and maniacal Gotham City revenge-seekers are gleefully closing in for the kill. Most of the film is Harley thrashing these foes with cartwheeling, catapulting, take-no-prisoner maneuvers until she’s sadly sold out by her one and only friend, Doc, the elderly owner of a Chinese restaurant who delivers Harley into the hands of psychopathic crime boss, Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Her life literally hanging in the balance, Harley is one knife slice away from losing face before she cuts a deal to recover a prized diamond that landed in the possession of teenage pickpocket extraordinaire Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). Cassie lives in the same tenement as Harley, mostly exiled to the stairwell escaping abusive foster care. Harley offers Cassie a semblance of sisterhood, the first revealing peek at Harley’s liberated joker-less heart.

Cue three other colorful female characters that, with Harley and Cassie, dominate the last part of the film, a female quintet of empowerment and redemption. Helena Bertinelli, aka Huntress “The Crossbow Killer” (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is out to even the score with Gotham mafia men who executed her family when she was a child. Dinah Lance, soulful lounge singer, aka Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) is about to find her voice after turning away silent one too many times as her bar boss, Black Mask, sexually assaults female patrons. Gotham City detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), done losing hard-earned recognition to a police force ruled by misogyny, crosses over to embrace her feminist wild side. Uniting these five as Birds of Prey is the common purpose of reaping righteous havoc on the villains of Gotham, bringing a testosterone track record of destruction, perversion and exploitation to a deliciously satisfying, rip-roaring, raucous end.

The most compelling moments of this comic-book-come-to-life movie were two occasions when self-interest prevailed over friendship. First Harley confronts Doc and then Cassandra confronts Harley about trading their lives to Black Mask for personal gain. Doc listens, shrugs, pockets his bounty and drives off. Harley tries to blow Cassie off with a ho hum, “I’m just a horrible person” but clearly is affected at a level that will ultimately be revealed late in the film. Definitely worth the wait.

Don’t shy away from this movie or misjudge it as gaudy graphic novel schlock because you will miss an entertaining cinematic bonanza. The music is a blast. The action is crazy fun! The bad guys lose, the good gals win. The fight sequences outrageous, outlandish and awesome. The female cast, after months of training and practice, performed most of the fight scenes themselves, no stunt doubles need apply. Definitely time to enroll in a martial arts class! Who’s with me?! 

Mob Men

The Gentlemen – 2020 – R

Just for fun stop by the snack bar and forego the popcorn for a giant salted pretzel to eat in sync with this movie’s spiraling twists, turns and twirls. Mickey (Matthew McConaughey), an American in London offers to sell his thriving British underground marijuana farms to fellow American billionaire, sleazy Matthew (Jeremy Strong, Succession) and blissfully exercise early retirement to fully enjoy Rosalind, Mickey’s stiletto-heeled wife (Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey) who runs an auto-repair garage staffed exclusively by women. But the lucrative drug trafficking opportunity is chumming the River Thames luring all manner of hungry fresh water sharks to the city. Taking the bait is Chinese gangster “Lord George“ (Tom Wu) but his underboss “Dry Eye” (Henry Golding, Crazy Rich Asians), strutting his independence and representing the up and coming Asian gangsta youth movement, shoots a different plan to Lord George. Crooked private investigator/paparazzi reporter Fletcher (Hugh Grant) is cheerily dedicating his telephoto lens and camouflage expertise to blackmail Mickey’s #1 henchman Ray (Charlie Hunnam, Sons of Anarchy) by selling the unfolding, exclusive, murdering mob and dope tale to tabloid owner “Big Dave” (Eddie Marsan, Vice) who is determined to enact revenge on Mickey who publicly snubbed diminutive Big Dave at a highfalutin London party. Whew! There you have it. Full circle. Mickey to Matthew to Lord George to Dry Eye to Fletcher to Ray to Big Dave back to Mickey. Well, not quite. There is “Coach” (Colin Farrell), neighborhood legend boxing coach who winds up owing three favors to Mickey because Coach’s stable of brawling, YouTube viral-seeking karate kids overstepped their gym boundaries into Mickey’s business. Coach not only pays off his debt but throws in one machine gun rescue as a bonus fourth favor. Then there’s the Russian connection with former KGB czar daddy who takes exception to Aslan (Danny Griffin), his heir-apparent son face-planting the London sidewalk from two stories up, winding up in a body bag in Ray’s home freezer. On the heels of Aslan’s fall from fame is the demise of anorexic Laura (Eliot Sumner), daughter of Lord Pressfield (Samuel West). Lord Pressfield is an estate beneficiary of Matthew’s enterprise, a literal “overlord.” His income is cut off because of tangling with the karate kid gang but Mickey, trying to make amends, promises to rescue Laura who gets mixed up with Aslan and it’s a big heroin mess. Follow the Moscow Mule to the White Widow Super Cheese weed. Cannabis chaos.

The entire movie is framed as a conversation between manic Fletcher and deliberate Ray. Fletcher pitches to Ray, typed up as a screen play at a $20 million price tag, the damning, blackmailing evidence he’s clandestinely gathered. Ok? Got it? If it’s any comfort, it took me so long to diagnose the movie-within-a-movie format that I missed important clues flying by in the fast and furious dialogue. Fletcher talked way too fast and Ray way too slow. The British slang went over my head. I like to think of myself as able to cope with the circuitous but this movie took such a scenic route that I wished for an occasional linear respite. For all I know the movie-within-the-movie was the movie. Confused? Me, too. Maybe buy two pretzels.

Good Old Boys

Bad Boys for Life – 2020 – R


It’s been 25 years since 1995’s Bad Boys narcotic detectives Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) went heroin hunting in a black 964-generation Porsche 911. In 2003’s Bad Boys II the Miami duo drive a silver Ferrari 550 Maranello chasing down ecstasy traffickers. The 2020 Bad Boys for Life race around town in a blue Porsche 911 Carrera 4S on the trail of the Mexican cartel. Notice a trend? Good guy detectives Mike and Marcus racing hot cars chasing bad guys. A simple formula that has grossed over $420 million for the Bad Boys franchise.

What changed between Bad Boys I, II and III is obvious: age. The two daring, raucous, adrenaline fueled partners are now middle-aged, older but not that much wiser alpha males. Marcus, a new grandfather retires from the force while Mike, a dedicated badass who prefers to rage, rage against the dying of the light, is critically injured in a drive-by revenge hit. He eventually recovers and pressures Marcus into coming out of retirement, teaming up “one last time” to track down the would be assassin.

Explosions, fires, gangland killings, car chases, helicopter rescues, helicopter crashes, automotive carnage, motorcycle wheelies and sidecar splits, pit bulls, drones, bombs, bullets and rocket launchers, all spike the body count of death and destruction.  Add in cartel killing machine Armando Aretas (Jacob Scipio) and his revenge hungry, Mike-hating mother Isabel Aretas (Kate del Castillo), a Mexican “witch” who lights candles on a Mexico City rooftop in the name of the cult saint Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte (Our Lady of Holy Death), and game on. The “Mike-hating” part is what ratchets the story into more engaging territory than cops, cars and crack. 

Mike and Marcus are fearless and fun, wily and witty, bantering and bickering from Miami to Mexico and back. Beyond the loyalty of police force brotherhood these two old friends genuinely care for each other and it shows. Keep counting. There will be a Bad Boys 4. The only question is what kind of car will they drive, Ford or Ferrari? 

Sea Murk

Underwater- 2020 – PG13

I love anything ocean. During my teen years growing up a block from the beach in Santa Cruz, my best friend was the niece of Lloyd Bridges so I spent a fair amount of time hanging out with the Bridges family including Beau and Jeff. I still name drop at any sighting of the Bridges brothers. “Hey, I played tennis with Beau!” “There’s Jeff Bridges! I went to the Boardwalk with him.” Indeed, I was a huge Sea Hunt fan forever dreaming of my own scuba dive escapades—which never happened—turns out I don’t really like swimming in deep waters. So I get to take those daring plunges vicariously through film! But poor, ill-conceived Underwater, a project that sat mercifully on the shelf for three years, makes nary a ripple of watery adventure as it is finally released into the cold doldrum seas of January.

You barely get situated with your popcorn and drink before catastrophe hits research station Kepler 822 operating at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the deepest sea depression in the world, seven miles underwater. A massive earthquake (or maybe marauding sea monsters) rock the station followed by a BA-BOOM explosion leaving slim pickings for the surviving crew, Norah (Kristen Stewart), an engineer who mostly runs around barefoot in skimpy underwear; weepy “we’re all going to die” biologist Emily (Jessica Henwick) and her stand and deliver boyfriend Liam (John Gallagher Jr.) who sadly fails to stand or deliver instead winding up on his back dragged across the ocean floor by now heroic but still weeping Emily; goofball, wisecracking Paul  (T.J. Miller) who for no apparent reason carries a stuffed bunny under his shirt; golly gee whiz Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), oops, first to lose his head, literally. Sorry no professor and Mary Ann but there is a skipper too, hapless, unfortunate Captain “no one is going to die” Lucien (Vincent Cassel) under whose command almost everyone dies. Of the seven characters that’s pretty much all you need to know. Good thing because that’s all we learn before the “my, what big teeth you have” alien creatures of the deep dine, slime and swallow most of the subterranean six (subtracting long gone headless Rod) as they attempt a deep sea hike to the safety of Roebuck Station, a mile away.

Once I suspended even a modicum of belief, I still had to contend with indecipherable, gurgling dialogue— an oceanic Tower of Babel—plus a scatter gun barrage of terrified, wide-eyed, gaping faces grimacing and gasping behind cracked, clunky deep sea diving helmets. I seriously never knew who was where doing what. The filmmakers didn’t even see fit to provide a clear full frontal of the slimy sea monsters rather substituting a cinematic hide and seek version of “Where’s Waldo?” It was like my head was submerged in a 5 gallon aquarium, the starter kit pump running amok creating a fishbowl whirlpool of swirling sand and floundering, bewildered fish. Or like taking a peripheral vision test at my optometrist’s office where I annually stress over pushing a button every time a light flashes on the screen. Flash! Norah’s eyes. Flash! Emily’s eyes. Or Norah‘s? Flash! A tentacle. Flash! A monster. Or was it the captain? Flash! Flash! Flash! Arggghhhhh!

There was a faint storyline of “we’ve taken too much and now the sea is taking back” environmental politics. But in addition to that one line you had to digest the rest through newspaper clippings shoehorned amongst the ending credits. Flash! Flash! Practice your speed reading. Oh, and lest I forget, revive your childhood Sunday School memories of “Jonah and the Whale” in preparation for perhaps the most ridiculous shot in all of horrible horror films: please give it up for “Norah and the Leviathan.”

I will spare you more details—well, there really isn’t much more to say except [Spoiler Alert] two escape pods float to the surface with a duo of crew members intact. That’s it, no more hints. You too will need to forfeit 95 minutes of your life to discover who survived. Be forewarned. It took me a solid stretch of time in a mental decompression chamber to escape the bad movie bends. Instead of weathering Underwater, you may wish to invest your leisure minutes lobbying Hulu for a Sea Hunt marathon. Now that would be a splash!

The End of an Epic

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – 2019 – PG13

All good things must come to an end. It’s been 42 years since Han, Leia and Luke, Chewbacca, C-3PO and R2-D2 launched a cultural phenomenon that to this day sees closet shelves and dresser drawers across America stuffed with lightsabers, stormtroopers and droids. Collectibles! Some day, we all hope, they will be worth a fortune and augment our retirement. My son, born in 1977, grew up paralleling the Star Wars universe. Remember Boba Fett?  The most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy once went missing in our household. To restore order to our universe we immediately went shopping. Being the pre-Amazon Prime era, it required firing the car up and ransacking Wards, Sears, Mervyn’s and Toys “R” Us until we finally lucked out at a K-Mart 20 miles away! The force was with us.

Star Wars ultimate finale, The Rise of Skywalker, concludes the epic triple trilogy that started a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Jedi Rey and First Order Commander Kylo Ren (Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver) Resistance fighter pilot Poe and Stormtrooper drop-out Finn (Oscar Isaac, John Boyega) wage a winner-take-all intergalactic scavenger hunt, the prize, a free universe. Rey and Ren dominate the film, blasting and battling each other (to the point of tedium) across the galaxy. Ren was not as maniacal as in the Force Awakens. I spotted a soft spot early on but had to wait until the finale of the finale to see if my hunch would bear fruit, last man standing, Ben or Ren? Redemption or revenge? No spoiler here but you won’t be disappointed. Rey matches Ren’s zealotry, lightsabership and scowls from dunes to oceans, islands to planets. Their ocean battle alone incredible. Death Stars rise and fall but worth the wait is when the most famous X-Wing in Star Wars lore makes a majestic reappearance. Just wow! Bringing a roar from my theater crowd is the scene following Poe’s reassurance, “We’ve got friends out there. They’ll come if they know there’s hope.” Look up! The Resistance meets the Empire, once and for all. For me, the absolute best moment of the movie. 

There are lots of loose ends left for Star Wars aficionados to debate for years. The Rise of Skywalker couldn’t possibly get it all figured out or the movie would play more as exhausting eulogy than culminating trilogy. To love this four decade saga is to live comfortably with ambiguity. A blockbuster’s impact on pop culture is measured by the millions of water cooler arguments, opinions and observations that fill social media and social gatherings for common consideration and consumption. That’s the fun of it. Let’s test it out. I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, but then I’m a biology matters kind of person. Luke (Skywalker himself) disagrees, “Some things are stronger than blood.” What do you think? Let it rip. Above all else, yesterday, tomorrow and four decades hence, let’s lay claim to what’s most important, “The Force brought us together.” Thanks for that reminder Finn. And may the force be with you all!

Big Apple Lockdown

21 Bridges – 2019 – R

Having spent a few crazy fun days in NYC last spring hailing planes, trains and automobiles to and around Manhattan, my curiosity was piqued as to how an NYPD manhunt that completely locked down the island would play out. NYC’s George Washington Bridge alone is the world’s busiest, 103 million vehicles crossing it per year, 282,192 a day. Quite a doomsday backup! And that’s just one of the 21 bridges! However, my imagination must take over because the film, obviously just foisting about for an enticing title, didn’t go anywhere with the potential destruction derby of a cops and robbers chase confined to Armageddon gridlock. On the upside, the film did feature the longest, wildest, baddest foot chase in movie history with trigger happy, Internal Affairs regular, macho man, Super Detective Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther) chasing smart, logical criminal-with-a-conscious Michael (Stephan James) through the Meatpacking District on the far west side of Manhattan. A street sprint to end all sprints! Best part of the movie!  

In a nutshell, two bad guys, young Michael and 12-stepper, military veteran Ray hit a Brooklyn restaurant expecting  a quick in-and-out heist of 30 kilos of cocaine but, whoa baby, packed neatly away are not 30 but 300 kilos of pure, uncut blow. Dang. Shoulda brought bigger backpacks boys! Oddly, a group of NYPD officers show up at almost the same time, rap-tap-tapping on the establishment’s locked doors. The unplanned convergence of cops and robbers ends bloody and badly, eight officers down, seven die at the scene, one later at the hospital. Clearly the officers calmly knocking on the restaurant door were caught off guard. Why is that? Detective Davis wonders the same and soon sorts through the clues and loops us in. Seems the drug stash is all in a day’s work for some dirty cops of the 85th precinct. The police were there on business. Not good, not good. 

You get the vibe. Cop killers, dirty cops and super cop on a mission. A mission that starts out as a justifiable, rabid hunt for cop killers but quickly gets complicated when sharp and shrewd Detective Davis deduces the bad guys include his own and the evidence needed to dismantle the thin blue line conspiracy rests with bringing the cop killers in alive. With Ray early on shot to smithereens, Davis desperately turns his focus on taking Michael alive—competing with the entire NYPD blue army who, for reasons of righteous revenge or evidence suppression, want Michael dead. Davis doesn’t know who fits in each category so, unable to trust anyone, he’s forced to work alone. The blue on blue high stakes, deadly race for Michael takes up most of the film’s 99 packed minutes. 

21 Bridges is a low budget B movie that does its best to smuggle in a hint of social commentary, entertain the masses and bring the scrum of bad guys to justice. Yes, the dialogue is nothing that would probably ever be said. Yes, there are holes in the plot that could only be explained by magical incantations.  No, the public apparently experienced zero inconveniences despite all NYC transportation options eliminated for hours. But, yes, I still enjoyed 21 Bridges. Walking out I kept delivering my best deadpan, “You’re going down,” to anyone in the gathered Frozen II Disney toddler mob who looked my way. That was fun—and together with the longest, wildest, baddest foot chase in movie history—made 21 Bridges worth giving up an afternoon of my time.