16 Blocks is the kind of movie you can really only watch once and even at that you'll be correctly guessing what happens next as it goes through loads of familiar developments with a lot of unsubtle foreshadowing. I'm surprised that Richard Donner managed to make a film so tepid.
The rapidly ageing Bruce Willis plays a downbeat, alcoholic cop who is talked into transporting a witness (most definitely Mos Def) to the courthouse to testify against dirty cops. Only those dirty cops make it very difficult for them to make this seemingly simple, short journey.
Since the film runs 102 minutes and they have 118 minutes to get to the courthouse, it's not strictly in real time. But it did very much remind me of Phone Booth in terms of brisk pacing and bustling New York backdrop. A suspension of disbelief is seriously required as a few completely implausible things happen.
I mean, how the hell do the dirty cops constantly manage to catch up with them. Do they have secret homing devices and teleport machines? Why did Willis not shoot any of them in the foot so they couldn't follow? Why didn't he identify himself properly on that bus full of complete moron passengers?
Richard Donner has proved himself a master of action in the past but this PG-13 rated movie is just packed full of jittery, blurred, badly-lit, incomprehensible shoot-outs. A harder nature and bad guys that DID more evil instead of talking about already doing it would have made a better movie.
Rent this. And completely forget about it the minute you switch the DVD player off.
The rapidly ageing Bruce Willis plays a downbeat, alcoholic cop who is talked into transporting a witness (most definitely Mos Def) to the courthouse to testify against dirty cops. Only those dirty cops make it very difficult for them to make this seemingly simple, short journey.
Since the film runs 102 minutes and they have 118 minutes to get to the courthouse, it's not strictly in real time. But it did very much remind me of Phone Booth in terms of brisk pacing and bustling New York backdrop. A suspension of disbelief is seriously required as a few completely implausible things happen.
I mean, how the hell do the dirty cops constantly manage to catch up with them. Do they have secret homing devices and teleport machines? Why did Willis not shoot any of them in the foot so they couldn't follow? Why didn't he identify himself properly on that bus full of complete moron passengers?
Richard Donner has proved himself a master of action in the past but this PG-13 rated movie is just packed full of jittery, blurred, badly-lit, incomprehensible shoot-outs. A harder nature and bad guys that DID more evil instead of talking about already doing it would have made a better movie.
Rent this. And completely forget about it the minute you switch the DVD player off.