Another Day, Another Free Advance Screening

16 Blocks might as well be called Collateral Lite. Richard Donner's latest plays like an abridged, two-act version of his Lethal Weapon movies, watering down many of the action movie cliches that allowed those movies to stay afloat in the first place. Donner would like you to believe that his film is about the characters, emphasizing this through jarringly minimalist action sequences (compared to the majority of his work, anyway) and making room for plenty of small-talk between his leads. Lucky for Donner, the broad choices made by both Bruce Willis and Mos Def aid the film, providing it with a foundation whereby the audience can emotionally access the characters. Willis' cop is overweight, alcoholic, and walks with a limp; Mos Def whines and lisps his lines nearly to the point of caricature. The film begins briskly, leaving the viewer little time to connect with the characters before the action starts. Luckily, the hap-hazard pacing occasionally slows the movie to a deadening halt, allowing for humorous smatterings of dialogue to brighten the dull spots.
There's really no reason for this movie to exist in a post-Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang universe, as that movie satirically decimated most of the action genre formula that plays out in 16 Blocks. Again, Collateral proved that drama with glimmers of action is generally more fulfilling than the repetition of tried-and-true gunfights and meaningless explosions, but there's something to be said for the sheer spectacle of the genre displayed in substanceless masterpieces like Swordfish or Con Air. Donner struggles to bridge the gap between crafting believable character interaction and staging thrilling action sequences, resulting in a mixed bag of entertainment. One shot early in the film proves that Donner still has some life in him though. As Willis' character springs into action to protect Def, time slows down, the camera rotates, and somehow the result is a satisfying technique that manages to escape being derivative of The Matrix's Bullet Time effect. Other than that, the film is visually bleak, giving a congested, myopic view of New York that disregards skyscrapers for Hot Dog Carts.
I saw this movie for free, but I'd say it's worth matinee price. It's the kind of film you'll spot on HBO next year and say, "Oh, yeah. I remember that this came out. I wanted to see it, but I wasn't sure it was any good." This movie demands to be viewed on the small screen. Beyond the single interesting shot, there's nothing much to distinguish 16 Blocks from an episode of a prime-time cop series on TV. All the 'surprises' are based around the principal of visually lying to the audience by cropping out important information with tight, close shots. Every time our heroes are about to get the axe they frame an ingenious ruse to trick the baddies within a matter of seconds, their planning never depicted on-frame. After the fourth time someone pulls a gun on someone from just right of frame, it starts to get grating.
I can't really recommend this movie, but it's definitely not bad. This movie is the very definition of 'decent'; it'd just fair better if there weren't so much else out there to compare it to.