After uncovering a massive conspiracy, an embattled NYPD detective joins a citywide manhunt for two young cop killers. As the night unfolds, he soon becomes unsure of who to pursue -- and who's in pursuit of him. When the search intensifies, authorities decide to take extreme measures by closing all of Manhattan's 21 bridges to prevent the suspects from escaping.
21 Bridges is more than just a story about a son avenging the death of his father, it is a unique and entertaining film that focuses around a chase, and unleashes a strong set of twists throughout, to keep us on our toes. This film has been really hyped up, especially since Chadwick's blowout performance in Black Panther, and the film definitely feels raw in terms of its character selections and overall flow - running just short of 100 minutes, it would be considered a short film nowadays, but it really feels like longer because of the variety of different scenarios and situations that this film provides. Before I saw this film, for me, it was definitely one I was super excited to see, but now I've seen the film did my thoughts live up to expectations? That's what you're here to see, whether the film is a must-see, or whether you'd be best staying away! Here are my thoughts.
21 Bridges has a really powerful and hard-hitting start, seeing a young Andre at his father’s funeral with tears in his eyes helps to add a strong sense of emotion and purpose to the character, as well as giving us a really personal feeling to his character – this allows us to really understand and envision why he makes decisions and his thought and action processes behind these. It also really cleverly helps to add context to the film too, it ever so subtly forebodes as to the events of the film which makes the film’s starting scene feel much more meaningful and useful in terms of entertainment value and providing context. I also really like how clear the film depicts the main character – Andre, the film cleverly shows him looking after his family, and remembering his father even 18 years after his death, not only does this give him a really down to Earth feeling but it also again, subtly shows characteristics. We see how his fathers death affects Andre and how his mind is still quite confused – I really like how in-depth the film goes to show Andre’s character and who he is because it means that throughout the film we accumulate more and more information and details resulting in him feeling real by the end of the film. I like the amount of detail that has done into the characters here - especially with Andre - his emotions and past affecting him and his choices feels really real and immersive and helps us to side with his character, and to give us sympathy for him too. It connects well with us.
As well as this though, one of my favourite elements about the film was how raw the characters feel, they provide really powerful and strong emotional performances which not only shows the brutality that police officers go through but also the emotional effect on the criminals and the police officers friends and families. Seeing the criminals with their own personalities feels fresh and helps to add a lot to the film, it isn't just a chase film but it shows us both sides, their perspectives and gives a personal feeling to both of them - meaning that the film is much more rounded. I really like the characters here, like I said they feel really raw, but also they genuinely feel really exciting and enjoyable because of their individual traits and quirks which make them unique, the fast-paced nature of the film compliments this perfectly too. Because throughout the film, we are introduced to a wide variety of exciting and mysterious characters, all of which add to the thrill of the film, these characters feel well thought through and seem to fill in the gaps where the film may have become boring - they also give us a really real perspective of the underground drug world too, the brutality of the gunmen at the start, the drug dealer, the money launderer - these characters all add to the excitement and 'journey' aspect of the film. Chadwick Boseman gives a great lead performance, maybe not necessarily as exciting as he was in Black Panther, but this shows another side of him - one which portrays him as a troubled man, with his heart in the right place on a mission. Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James are also great and Sienna Miller and J. K. Simmons are both really good. Brian Kirk's direction is excellent, keeping the film constantly moving and mobile, resulting in a great pace and again, helping to really push the chase feeling of the film.
One of my favourite elements relating to the characters here though is the unpredictable nature of them, not only does this keep us engaged with the film but it also just makes the characters feel much more exciting, scenes such as Michael finding the USB drive with corrupted police officers on it, as well as the ambush on Andre at the end not only keeps us guessing but it keeps changing perceptions and characters around - which gives them an unpredictable yet exciting nature and helps to keep the film flowing nicely. I loved the dialogue of the film too, emotions feel really cleverly and strongly portrayed here, from the nervous talk from the criminals when they are in the shootout with the policemen, to the talk between FBI and NYPD when they kill an unarmed man - dialogue here is really engaging too, and cleverly shows the various characters emotions without being too much. Many may have come just to see Chadwick Boseman and they shouldn't be disappointed. But there are other good things about this movie, with good character development (albeit within the real-time of a few hours), running parallel is a police procedural and a crime story from the POV of the criminals. Excellent script, direction and acting together make sure that your attention is focused during the entire duration of the movie. I do really like how much time the criminals are given though, on set, I like seeing them in various locations and the switches between NYPD and them keeps the film feeling tense throughout, but as well as this we always feel a sinister and cold kind of feeling when they are on screen, which feels effective because of their brutality - but later on in the film Michael's connection with Andre gives a much more personal and realistic effect, again showcasing the depth that the characters here have. The brutality of characters and the emotional effects that they have are also conveyed well, which keeps the film feeling powerful - seeing how characters react to their colleagues dead feels really hard-hitting as intended, which adds to the overall raw and savage nature of the film.
As well as the characters though, the standout part of this film is the plot. The main element that I like about it is the chase feeling to it, the film always feels fast-paced and has a 'chase' element to it which really keeps it exciting and thrilling throughout. The film builds up the plot and this chase element right from the very beginning though, which ensures that not only we have a good idea of what is always going on - but it also essentially puts us in the driving seat from the start. Where this film especially excels though is in its action scenes, like at the start during the robbery it is built up really well, it feels exciting to see confrontations and then the raw feeling of the shootout helps to top it off, it feels fast-paced and quick, but immersive and thrilling which is a great combination that this film nails. I love how well the plot seems to flow together though, the way in which the criminals leave a trail and the police pick it up helps to keep the film flowing well, because there are no surprises in terms of "why did they do that" or "how did that happen", and because of the switches between character sets, we are always kept in the driving seat. The storyline not only feels fast-paced and exciting, but it just genuinely feels really well put together, from how scenes transition to one another, how the film cuts in and out of character perspectives and how it allows us to follow both the criminals and the NYPD without leaving out anything is great, and definitely shows the attention to detail in the film.
Shootouts and fights are prominent and feel raw. Seeing the criminals massacre the police officers at the beginning honestly was difficult to watch, especially seeing how easily beaten they were and the devastating effects of this - the other shootouts also feel really shocking too, seeing people shot in the eye, headshots and chest shots all helped to immerse us in the scenes in the film and to put us in the driving seat. Like I said earlier, I like the addition of twists and turns here, because they not only keep the film feeling realistic but they also just help to freshen the film up too and prevent it from going a bit stale, twists such as the train scene where Andre confronts Michael, as well as when Michael is ambushed by his corrupt police teams at the end - usually when a film implements a series of twists and turns they can be unrealistic and far fetched, but I really like how this film does them, not only did I find them to be surprising (especially during the drug ambush at the end) but they were also implemented into the structure of the film well, which made them feel a strong part of the structure of the film, even though they were surprising. In general though, if you're here for fights, shootouts and guns blazing you probably won't get the amount to satisfy your thirst, but what you will get is an interactive, engaging and immersive experience which really makes you think, even after leaving the theatre.
This film wasn't perfect though, that's for sure - it did have a few problems which I want to point out. My main issue is that I was slightly disappointed with the lack of time and effort that the film put into showing the actual criminal activities, many of the criminals that we were introduced to felt rushed, and we didn't see them for long at all - which meant that even though they were exciting, they didn't feel key to many of the scenes at all really. This is a movie created around a what-if scenario. What if it were necessary to close all access in or out of Manhattan in order to catch some bad guys, what would happen? This is really the central premise of this movie. Everything else (plot, characters, script and score) was added to support this premise. The first part of the movie is a build-up to the big "close the bridges, block the tunnels, flood the island with blue" speech delivered by Chadwick Boseman. That's what confused me a little too, it just felt a little overkill and as if the film was trying too hard to create a big story out of it, when the majority of the story was focussed on dirty cops, it just seemed to be a little bit like there was a conflict of interests. We have Chadwick Boseman in this movie, give him some action scenes! All he does for 70% of the movie is going to a crime scene, make some macho man talk or yell at people, and then say "We got a new lead, everyone follows me," only to do the same thing again. He is a great leading action star, let the man kick some ass, not just stand around and talk while other characters do all the shooting, he's a great actor and he's proved that again and again, so why wasn't he allowed to bring that passion to this film?
Overall, I would give this film an 8 out of 10. It was good, I thought that the film felt really exciting and raw, which means that for the majority of it, it's really enjoyable and easy to follow. I also like the constant switches between criminal and cops too, as this helps to give the film a sense of intensity and speed, which has a roll-on effect of keeping the whole film feeling really passionate. The film did have a few problems though, most notably the timing of the film, I wanted it to last longer, I really did. I know I said it felt like a long time but I wanted scenes to be more in-depth, I wanted them to really delve into what was going on from both perspectives and I wanted a little bit more passion too, this film has a great set of characters but its doesn't seem like they were able to reach their potentials here which is a shame, but the film is quality nonetheless. Would I recommend this film? In all honesty, I'm not sure. It is a good film, don't get me wrong but it just feels like it doesn't provide as much passion or as much excitement as you would expect after reading the description for the film - and that might let a few audiences down, but for me, I liked it.
Thank you for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did watching the film and writing this review, I hope you have a lovely day! If you would like to check out my Official Facebook page where you can see sneak previous and more film insights then please consider checking out the link below!
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