16 Blocks

Such a shame. In the first two acts, this drama had the makings of a nice 4*, but from the bus scene onwards, the story is one logical gaffe after another, with the most profane screenwriting cliché (I was 100% sure the screenwriter was going to unload on me) at the very end. Even so, Bruce Willis repaired his reputation after the bad Hostage. The role of an aging, limping cop suited him like a glove. The sword-wielding Mos Def took time to get used to (and played it well), and Richard Donner is still not an old hand. Summary: easily digestible three-star entertainment. (27.09.2006)

The two faces of good-old Richard Donner. On the one hand, he sticks to proven tracks and with this stylish crime thriller, he reminds us of action-packed hits from the 90s. On the other hand, this film has many things that are unusual for him. The most notable are the action scenes, where Donner, compared to the LW series for example, reduces explosiveness and dynamism and adds dryness and rawness. Simple and very effective, although not as cool as before. Bruce Willis is an old cat and it takes a decent few minutes for him to get into his usual shooting form, but he never forgets to drop a good wisecrack. The screenplay is decent and some scenes are truly clever. David Morse is excellent and elegant as the villain. A solid, intelligent action movie in an old-new package that will particularly please genre fans and lovers of the 90s. (01.06.2006)

Quite near the beginning there is a perfectly directed scene that whets your appetite and... and then nothing. 16 Blocks is a solid, old-school crime movie, but don’t expect anything more of it than a variation on what we have already seen a hundred times before. You would be needlessly disappointed, which would be a shame because this picture certainly has slightly above-average qualities. (16.07.2007)

Bruce Willis is quite decent as the ruined drunk, although at times he looks like he's not even acting. However, Donner's monotonous, unimaginative, and (in the end) heavily drawn-out direction drags this film down below the average rating, also thanks to the unremarkable screenplay, which serves up, instead of action, awkward life wisdom about how anyone can change. In the early 1990s this would have been forgotten next to the adrenaline rush of Speed, and today it will meet a similar fate as well because, amongst the current hi-tech action, any good old-school film has to turn all the aforementioned negatives into positives. Both the director and the lead should retire quietly as their efforts to stay ion the big leagues are as embarrassing and sad as the awkwardness of the drooling, infirm old men in the retirement home. (11.02.2007)

Good old-school movie. Donner seems to have returned to the '90s and Willis seems to be playing one of his former characters, like Joe Hallenbeck in The Last Boy Scout, only ten years later. Just an old and tired version :-). The story is 100% old-school, but it warms you up pleasantly. It's like the good old days are back for a while. Maybe that's why I’m giving it a rating of 4 stars instead of 3. (31.10.2006)