16 Blocks (2006)
An aging cop is assigned the ordinary task of escorting a fast-talking witness from police custody to a courthouse, but they find themselves running the gauntlet as other forces try to prevent them from getting there.
Watch Trailer
Free Trial Channels
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Very well executed
Gripping story with well-crafted characters
Good idea lost in the noise
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
When I saw Bruce Willis in the credits I thought this would be a great movie. He might be more involved but he wasn't. Only his name was there, not him. Big disappointment. Movie was good, a lot of OMG does this really happen? I suppose I expected more with Bruce Willis' name but he didn't deliver. Good movie, scary thoughts as to does this actually happen and if it does, people need to be a lot more careful and the people that are supposed to protect us, get with it people! This is beyond scary.
Cop Willis is assigned the task of escorting criminal Bey to court where he will testify against rogue cops, and the cops will do anything to silence him.A simple premise and hardly original but still potentially entertaining, but in this case - no. The plot is straight-forward and yet littered with implausible moments, even the 'twists' are obvious. As for the dialogue - after being gratuitously assaulted by Bey's unending excrutiating verbal diarrhoea, I started hoping the rogue cops would succeed - quickly. Anything to end this nightmare.
Bruce Willis plays one of his best older roles in "16 Blocks". I often thought back of "Die Hard with a Vengeance" while watching this movie. Just as in that great Die Hard sequel from the nineties, Bruce chases through New York City, trying to meet a deadline. Just as in Die Hard with a Vengeance he has got a partner who helps him. And just as in several Die Hard movies a bond between the two blossoms. In spirit, this movie has the same charm as "Die Hard with a Vengeance", which is truly the only Die Hard sequel worth seeing...In "16 Blocks" Bruce Willis plays a washed up alcoholic cop, who has to transport a criminal to court. It seems to be a simple job, but unknown to him the criminal is about to testify against several corrupt New York police cops. An assassination attempt is planned to stop the criminal from testifying. Will Bruce Willis get the criminal to court alive?The story really has got many great plot twists and turns. Acting is great. The few jokes are good.But the greatest joy is to watch Bruce Willis and the criminal bond with each other while they struggle to get to court. It is an action movie with lots of room for dialogues however. But I really love that. In that sense it differs from Die Hard with a Vengeance, which was more focused on action alone. This movie truly excels in its true to life portrayal of its characters. Seen this movie many times now, and besides one lesser part of the story, I really enjoy it time and again.
After watching the review and looking at the cast I imagine that this would be a film full of action and one with a very basic story line. However, in the case of the story line, I was very wrong.This film starts off getting you to know Jack Mosley as an alcoholic Detective who doesn't have much time for the criminal he has to escort Eddie (Mos Def). However after a certain event the film really gets going and is very tense and exciting as Mosley tries to get Eddie to court within the ever decreasing deadline.The film still has plenty of action, just not as much as I personally expected. This wasn't a let down, just different to my expectations. The story for me was the main strong points of the film. Very unpredictable and went along a good pace. The ending was especially good as it ended the film well and threw in a few surprises too.Thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable.