With the recent death of rising Hollywood superstar, Chadwick Boseman, I decided to review one of his last films he has starred in, which was considered a box-office bomb and critical disappointment. Detective Andre Davis has a reputation for killing "cop-killers" in self-defense, a reputation Andre himself is not keen with having. One night, two criminal war veterans take a job to steal several kilos of cocaine, but when the job goes horribly wrong and the two kill several police officers in the process, Andre is tasked to quickly end the case by any means by only a few hours before the FBI takes over the case while forced to team up with a narcotics detective at the same time. Although the story seems pretty generic face-level, the film does its best in keeping it engaging. For one, there's an actual mystery unfolding as the story progresses that is not completely obvious. You might piece everything together by the second act, but you will never know what to expect or guess the ending of the film by the first ten to twenty minutes, unlike some poor detective mysteries. The movie also manages to stay very intense once the story begins. Not only was I actually on the edge of my seat wondering what's going to happen, but I did get invested in the story and characters for the most part. While that's all said and good, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. This isn't an over-the-top action fest as you might expect. There's action from time to time, but the film honestly takes the detective work and police work serious for the most part.
The late Chadwick Boseman will go down in history as yet another beloved celebrity who died too soon not only for his age, but to not get much acknowledgement for his acting skills from his more serious roles to his role as T'Challa. Boseman of course steals the show more than ever as Andre, who is essentially a generic role for the honest, hard-working cop who persists on finding the truth and only kills when necessary. Boseman just gives off that attitude and charisma that rivals other actors who take on similar roles such as Clint Eastwood, Danny Glover, etc. He's so good that not even Sienna Miller's terrible character, Frankie Burns, dumbs his performance down. Burns is the detective that Andre partners up with for the case as the typical sidekick and is a character that practically keeps the film from achieving greatness. Not only is her character completely unlikeable and useless as a detective for only stating the obvious or being so hot-headed and trigger-happy, but her role could have easily been removed, even when the twist of the film is revealed. The fact that her character survives the movie leaves a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Taylor Kitsch plays Ray Jackson, the violent, unstable criminal who makes extremely dumb decisions and rarely listens to his more rational partner. Kitsch plays the part well, but even the movie doesn't know whether we should hate or feel bad for him, considering all of the choices he makes from speeding at the light to get his picture taken or just being blunt-headed. Stephan James as Micheal Trujilio though is really good as the honest partner-in-crime who doesn't want to hurt anyone and yet is running for his life due to Ray's actions. James does a great job and offers a very sympathetic, misunderstood antagonist who's life you start to worry about as the film goes on. Lastly, there's J.K Simmons's Captain McKenna, the captain of precinct 8-5 and who is revealed to be a dirty cop along with every member of his team. Simmons is great as always and he works pretty well as a twist villain, but it could have been more effective if Burns was removed from the film. Not only does McKenna act like an honest cop, but it also makes his role and reveal more effective if the arrogant and unlikeable Burns wasn't in the movie practically reeking of guiltiness. As for the side characters, they are practically not worth mentioning as the only ones to note are some FBI agents threatening to take over the case, and a few helpful officers back in the headquarters. Overall, I do think the cast is great with Boseman in particular stealing the show, but characters such as Ray and Burns really damper the film by how unlikeable they are, especially Burns.
Brian Kirk's feature film directorial debut proves to be somewhat strong, but stumbles behind in a few areas. I will start off by saying that Kirk's direction is really nice and slick. For a movie centred mainly on nighttime shots and some interior sets, there's very good lighting and set design to match these demands. The cinematography by Paul Cameron is pretty competent with some nice establishing shots of NYC, a wonderful birds-eye view shot in the beginning, and nice use of handheld camera movement that matches the intensity of the story and grounded nature. While Cameron does a great job, there's one thing that's holding him back and that's the staging of the actors. I don't talk about staging much, but in this movie, whenever there's a shot consisting of more than three or so people, the scene looks pretty amateur like a cheap sitcom. So, while the cinematography can be great at times, there are some poor shots every now and then. I also feel that Cameron and Kirk really obsess over the establishing shots of New York. Like yes, they are nice to look at and the story is focused on locking down Manhattan, but there's just way too much that creating a drinking game out of it will kill you for sure. The score by Henry Jackman and Alex Belcher is very average for the genre. It's not terrible, but it's forgettable modern thriller music that you will struggle to remember. Last worth mentioning will be the action, which is honestly really well-handled for gunplay. It's intense, brutal at times, and engaging to watch. Headshots don't feel cartoonish or over-the-top, but rather really real in a way. The final action scene at the end where Burns survives an ambush from McKenna's officers is not only cool to watch, but has some nice editing and cinematography as well. The action sequences aren't exactly the best of the genre or worth watching just because, but they do help add on to the enjoyment and intensity of the film as a whole. For a man who mainly directs TV episodes and has a limited resume, Kirk honestly did a great job in proving his directing skills, even if there are a few mistakes here and there.
"21 Bridges" might appear to be a generic cop thriller that you might see in your streaming service, but it's actually far better than the critics make it out to be. The story is both engaging and keeps you guessing for a good while unlike some lazier mysteries, the fast pace and intensity of the situation really complements the story and works at keeping you engaged, Boseman is simply entertaining to watch as detective Andre, James and Simmons do stand-out jobs in the supporting cast as Micheal and Captain McKenna, the production and set design is nice as it gives the movie a cinematic feel, Cameron's cinematography is really good and offers some creative and visually pleasing shots, and the action sequences are both realistically brutal and handled with the same amount of intensity that fuels the story with some very nice editing and camerawork to give them extra flair. Even though all of this makes it sound like one of the best crime thrillers in recent years, there are some issues. Miller's detective Burns is extremely unlikeable and her inclusion feels really unneeded given that she barely does anything other than to make the twist of the movie easier to spot from his arrogance, Kitsch's Ray is a really idiotic antagonist that makes some pretty brainless decisions and forcing unearned sympathy, there's a bit too many establishing shots in the film for anyone's liking, some scenes have some really bad staging of the actors that it makes you question the professional work being involved, and the score by Jackman and Belcher might as well be background white noise, since I can't even recall any nice beat. It's not a perfect film and it does, at times, feel like that generic cop movie that was advertised and what many were expecting. But, when it plays out, it actually really works and you understand why Boseman took the project and even produced it alongside the Russo Brothers, which is because there was clearly tons of potential in it.
Verdict: 7/10. It might be the weakest film in Boseman's resume, but honestly, any film he was in has a ton of quality in it. This only adds to how great of an actor he is and how it's a damn shame his career couldn't span for much longer.
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