21 Bridges (Review)
21 Bridges Proves Good Acting Can Make a Movie.
21 Bridges is a film that proves that with the right cast and the right producers, any movie can be pretty good. That being said, 21 Bridges hardly counts as a “thriller” because it’s so easy to figure out the big twist in the first few minutes that it barely seems worth sitting through the rest of the movie to see how it eventually gets to that point. Most of the characters wear their emotions on their sleeves and telegraph their true motivations the second they appear on the screen. I would say that 21 Bridges is a waste of the talent it’s given, but then again, without the stellar cast, this film would probably be totally unwatchable.
Chadwick Boseman takes a break from wearing tights in the MCU to try on wearing a badge as NYPD Detective Andre Davis. He’s a cop with a reputation for catching cop-killers, which makes him the perfect man to hunt down the murderers of eight officers (Taylor Kitsch and Stephan James). Afraid that they’re going to escape from Manhattan and disappear forever, he shuts down the island and starts a massive manhunt. However, tempers are running high among his brothers in blue as they have their minds set on vengeance rather than justice. To make matters worse, as the pieces start to fall into place it becomes clear that this case is much bigger than it seemed at first and soon Andre isn’t sure who he can trust.
Alright, so 21 Bridges is a weird amalgam of good and bad filmmaking. Boseman and James are especially good in the movie opposite each other. They find themselves thrown into the deep end of the pool and forced to sink or swim as it becomes clear that both men are being used by others. James was hired to steal 30 kilos of coke from a rival drug dealer, but he and his partner find over 300 kilos when they arrive and things quickly get worse for them. At the same time, Boseman is trying to do his job but finds himself pressured to shoot first and ask questions later. The two have to stick to their own moral codes if they have any hope of surviving the night. They’re backed up by an impressive supporting cast, including J.K. Simmons, Sienna Miller, and Kieth David, all of whom add a lot of dramatic heft to the scenes they’re in. However, their performances do little to hide the flaws in 21 Bridges.
The biggest problem with the film is that the story appears lazy. There are just too many coincidences to be justified by “bad luck” by the end of it. I don’t want to “spoil” the movie for anyone, but it’s pretty obvious within the first 10 minutes exactly how 21 Bridges is going to finish. In fact, I feel as though I’ve seen the same plot points dozens of times before. On its own, the script, written by Adam Mervis and Matthew Michael Carnahan, seems as if it would be lucky to get made as a B-movie released direct to video. It’s the talent of the legendary Russo Brothers which give it a chance at life thanks to both their production values and a cast that are much better than it rightfully deserves. Because of this, there are some intense performances and pretty exciting action sequences. However, in the end, 21 Bridges is more or less the embodiment of the old saying, “lipstick on a pig.” Sure, it’s designer lipstick, but that still doesn’t make me want to kiss it.
Despite the cliches and weak script, 21 Bridges does have some genuinely exciting moments in it. There are a lot of gunfights and foot chases as the two criminals try to escape from the police. Kitsch is especially good in these scenes as he really sells the idea that his character is a former soldier who is very good at killing and way out of the NYPD’s league for the most part. Toss in the fact that James’ character is genuinely smart enough to potentially get away with the crime and you’ve got a duo that you can actually “root” for (considering they’re cop killers and everything). Boseman also does a decent job at selling the urgency of the situation to the point that the audience will actually start to believe him after a while. It’s this manhunt aspect that proves to be the real backbone of 21 Bridges and even though you might know how it’s going to end, it’s exciting to watch it get there.
21 Bridges isn’t a great movie, but it is a fun one at times. It’s a film that is greater than the sum of its parts if you take into account that some of the parts are cheap pieces of garbage built by the lowest bidder. Still, I found myself genuinely enjoying the ride for a lot of the film. I scoffed at times and rolled my eyes at plenty of others, but I was always interested to see what Boseman would do next. Of course, I knew what his character was probably going to do, but I wanted to see how he would get his character to that point. In the end, 21 Bridges manages to be saved from itself by the grace of the Russo Brothers. Not a great movie, but not half bad considering all the things it has going against it.
