16 Blocks (2006)

Iffy at times, but <em>'16 Blocks'</em> produces a fine enough thriller - one that I can say I enjoyed.

Bruce Willis and Mos Def double up well as Jack and Eddie. I particularly like Willis' look for the majority of the film, he genuinely looks how his character supposedly is - good acting, but also some nice make-up etc.

Mos Def is solid, I remember liking him when he appeared on <em>'Dexter'</em> - I rate him less here, just because of the annoying voice he has; which grates hard at times. Speaking of that Showtime television show, Angel Batista himself (David Zayas) also appears which is cool. David Morse, meanwhile, makes for an OK villain - the casting perhaps could've been greater for the antagonist, mind.

None of the plot is all that shocking or surprising, every crossroad that appears is pretty simple to predict where it's heading. Also, maybe I'm the only one who felt this, but there's one moment on a bus where it seems as if Jack is about to unleash some unbelievable secret plan but it just fizzles out into oddly nothing. Might be just me.

All in all though, I reckon you'll be able to find a satisfactory 105 minutes with this - I did, at least.

16 Blocks is an incredibly atmospheric movie with some quite incredibly done street scenes. Its intensity draws you in and makes you quickly form strong opinions of each character. I initially considered Mos Def's character to be annoying, but after a number of watches I realised if he hadn't given his character so much character then he would have been inconsequential and that would have weakened the movie severely. I think Bruce Willis was very brave to take the part of Jack Mosley and commit to it in the way he did. He makes this film what it is.