- This movie will lock you into your seat until the truth behind it is revealed.
I could describe the new crime thriller 21 Bridges with endless adjectives, but I’ll settle with these three, intense, suspenseful, captivating. 21 Bridges is probably going to be one of those under the radar films that does well in the box office but doesn’t get much hype around it possibly due to it being in a genre or theme that has been done before and there isn’t a high demand to watch crime thriller films as opposed to horror, superhero movies and so forth. If you’re a fan of crime thriller/mystery/action films than this movie will leave you satisfied, and Chadwick Boseman or as some will forever remember him as T’Challa from Black Panther brings forth a stellar performance which makes this film an enjoyable ride. The film felt predictable, after all this is a crime thriller so the hero will eventually triumph over the villain, but the execution, pacing and performances held my attention and I’m sure did for the rest of the audience. With that said, I don’t want to give away any spoilers or major plot lines, but basically the city of New York specifically the borough of Manhattan is complete shutdown for five hours in order to begin a manhunt and apprehend army veterans turned criminals who gunned down an army of cops due to their heist being thwarted. And to top off the urgency of this manhunt, Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) has four hours given by the FBI to track and apprehend them with the help of a DEA agent who happens to eventually be corrupt as are the other cops in the film which brings the film full circle. In regards to that, I had my suspicions about the police throughout the film as they had conflicts with Detective Davis and how his reputation as being a killer of cop killers which causes Davis to show disdain towards them because as I’ve seen in the film he is man as quoted in the film who would “look the devil in the eye” and take him down and the rest of his minions no matter the obstacle. Even though, I wasn’t thinking about this during the film I knew there was something that I could relate to towards this film on a personal level. Throughout the manhunt, it brought back memories for me when back in 2013 when Greater Boston especially Boston, Cambridge, and Watertown were on lockdown for almost an entire day due to tracking down the Boston Marathon bomber brothers. In regards to that, when a film can connect to something that happened to a viewers life, then that makes the film even more special in my opinion. Furthermore, aside from the acting, pacing, and cinematography, I wanted the score for the film to cause more tension and excitement, maybe on the lines of a Michael Bay Bad Boys type score which I always get excited for whenever watching those films. Another gripe I had was the ending because I wanted to see how the aftermath of the manhunt and the discovery behind all the officers with corrupt motives in this story affected Detective Davis. All he wanted was the truth and he didn’t feel satisfied even after discovering it which possibly was what the film intended the viewer to feel somber alongside Detective Davis. Another day is another opportunity for a crime to be done that could put the city and the residents at risk, and the officers he feels he can trust are no better than the criminals he’s chasing every day. In conclusion, do I recommend you to watch this film? Yes. Would I watch it again? Yes. I’m going to leave a link for the trailer for you to get a better understanding of the look and a brief premise of the film. Leave a like and comment if feel the need to and follow so you can stay up to date with my future posts. My next film review will hopefully be out next week. As always, peace and keep it real.
My rating for the film – 3 out 5 stars
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