16 Blocks

This movie was an excellent surprise. It starts slow, but stay with it. Your first look at Bruce Willis as the burnt-out over the hill cop tells you this will not be the normal shoot-em-up cop drama. The plot starts building almost instantly, unlike many movies where you have to wait through thirty minutes of fluff before the story goes anywhere. The characters in the movie are surprisingly endearing, honest and genuine. They're just normal enough to identify with. Not the standard super evil villain and valiant good guy. Bruce Willis is awesome in his role as the tired underdog struggling with the morality of torn loyalty. Mos Def, whose character's voice was a little aggravating, played an excellent supporting role. The relationship he develops with Willis'character is both surprising and humorous. Overall, the movie was tense from the start and is filled with suspense, humor and a great deal of drama. It takes some unexpected turns and has a great ending. I highly recommend it.

Certainly a decent cop - thriller; it's quite entertaining despite some actions sequences that are really unlikely (they could also be called brainless). In fact credulity is put to the test a lot of times, nevertheless "16 Blocks" is a kind of movie that makes you reflect on what you saw. Bruce Willis plays the unusual part of a broken down cop ready for both rehabilitation and retirement, weary of working and living as well; Bruce has never looked more unkempt and scruffy but his part his acting is really persuasive and cogent. The ending could (should) have been less predictable but the job is in my opinion well done.

The story premise is not a new one. We can see other works of action in between pickup and delivery of a suspect or a witness all the way from the 1990s in movies like Eraser (1996) and S.W.A.T (2003). But I like how the story unfolds and develops. It's quite predictable in the bigger picture level, yet it's execution details are nice enough. The action is not bad. I particularly like how Jack and Eddie can escape multiple standoffs even including one hostage situation. Bruce Willis can get his calm mode on for his character here, and Mos Deff really did a great job in giving a balance to a big name such as Willis. It's entertaining enough for me.

The film concerns an experienced but tiring cop named Jack (Bruce Willis) about his retirement . The aging detective is assigned the last mission , transporting sixteen blocks away a foul-mouthed delinquent , from the precinct until the court . He is aware that the African-American young named Eddie Buken (Mos Def) is allegedly to testify against NYPD agents . He made a covenant with the D.A. office for identifying corrupt detectives at courthouse . Meantime , along the way , they're attacked by vicious gunfighters and pursued by all N.Y.C policemen and they find themselves under siege into a bus and surrounded by the SWAT . Then , they team up to flee , trying to get out towards the trial building .

The movie displays suspense , action ,thriller and is very entertaining . The film's writer, Richard Wenk, has reported that he originally conceived of the project with himself as writer and director and, before shopping it around to anyone else, first approached Richard Donner because they had a struck up a good relationship when Donner really liked his rewrite of a script for Lethal weapon 4 (1998) , even though that script was not used . It's a special buddy movie between a dreary , boozy cop magnificently played by Bruce Willis and a fast-talking prisoner well acted by Mos Def , detaching an agreeable chemistry . Although the film is principally interpreted by two main actors also contains exceptional performances by its entire secondary cast , especially by David Morse and Jenna Stern . Living musical score adjusted appropriately to the action by Klaus Badelt and adequate cinematography by Glen McPherson . The movie produced by Milennium (Trevor Short ,Boaz Davidson , Danny Lerner) usually producers of low-medium budget but here was lavishly filmed . The motion picture was professionally directed by the veteran Richard Donner . He's an action cinema specialist with numerous titles (Assassin , Conspiracy theory , Timeline , Lethal Weapon I..). Rating : Better than average . It's a must see for Bruce Willis fans in spite of his characterization as an old man .

This is not a remake of "The Gauntlet," though the theme is a familiar one. There are, in fact, several movies with similar plots; "3:10 to Yuma" and "Narrow Margin" come to mind. A reviewer emailed me that "Midnight Run" not only has a story like "16 Blocks" but Bruce Willis' character Jack Mosley has a name that is a composite of the movie names for two of the leading roles in "Midnight Run": Robert De Niro's Jack Walsh and Yaphet Kotto's FBI Agent Alonzo Mosely. This, of course, may be mere coincidence. Though the story may seem like déjà vu, the action is fast paced making this an exciting film to watch.

Anyone who doubts that Bruce Willis can act needs only watch his standout performance in "Pulp Fiction" to see what depth this actor can bring to a demanding role. The role of Jack Mosely may not be challenging to Willis, but he still gives it all he's got which is plenty. Playing the part of an over the hill New York cop with a game leg, nothing to live for, and a drinking problem seems easy for Willis to make it all believable.

The criminal, Eddie Bunker, Jack must deliver to testify within a certain time frame is played with gusto by hip-hop artist Mos Def. Eddie is the most verbose prisoner ever. He rattles on and on about anything that comes to mind, some of it funny, some of it trite. He also has a riddle that is not answered till near the end of the film.

A standout performance is delivered by David Morse as the leader of the dirty cops, Frank Nugent. Morse is in danger of becoming typecast as a dishonest lawman. I'm hopeful he will become more diversified in his roles since he is such a talented actor.

This is another winner from action director Richard Donner. If you like his other successful concoctions such as the "Lethal Weapon" flicks, "Superman," "Conspiracy Theory," and "The Omen," then you will certainly enjoy "16 Blocks."