Hellboy (2019) - Grisly reboot a mixed bag

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Near-pornographic red poster for Neil Marshall's Hellboy with a youth shorthand tagline, presumably attempting to engage the young male demographic

Hellboy is tasked with stopping giants in England, - and the blood queen Nimue.

 

Hellboy is written by Andrew Cosby (Haunted (2002, TV-series)) and directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers (2002)), based on the Dark Horse Comics character. It reboots the character on film after Guillermo del Toro's two Hellboy films (2004; 2008).

A shift in style from Del Toro's colorful universe, Marshall delivers a darker, dirtier and more adult - or more accurately; less child-friendly - vision in a film that will appeal to a smaller audience of mainly nerdy young males.

David Harbour (Black Widow (2021)) is good but hard to recognize in the title role under the heavy makeup and prosthetics, and Milla Jovovich (Zoolander 2 (2016)) and others are well cast in a strong ensemble that sees Stephen Graham (Help (2021, TV movie)) as a pig monster! 

Hellboy is weighed down by a so-so plot and an overload of CGI effects with especial attention given to very grim beasts and deaths. It is a wild gamble that doesn't fully pay off.

 

Related posts:
 

Hellboy character: Hellboy (2004) - Del Toro's super-antihero is a tiring blast

Neil Marshall: 2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

The Descent (2005) - Marshall's intensely claustrophobic cave horror  

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 55 mil. $

=  Big flop (returned 1.1 times its cost)

[Hellboy premiered 9 April (Israel; New York) and runs 121 minutes. Despite Del Toro being interested in making a 3rd film, the studio took the project in another direction. 11 companies and support bodies were involved with the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from September - December 2017 in Bulgaria and the UK. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Shazam! and fellow new release Little, to a 12 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 21.9 mil. $ (39.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 10.4 mil. $ (18.9 %) and Russia with 3.8 mil. $ (6.9 %). Numerous stories of on-set conflicts, mostly between Marshall and the film's producers, has come to light, and Marshall later distanced himself from the film entirely, calling it "the worst professional experience of my light", the script "terrible" and further offered the eloquent insight, "You can't polish a turd." The film additionally made in excess of 11.9 mil. $ on the North-American home video market. Marshall returned with The Reckoning (2020). Harbour returned in 4 TV and short credits prior to his feature return in Extraction (2020, VoD). Hellboy is rotten at 17 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Hellboy? 

Prozac Nation (2001) - Ricci and Lange are stellar in wrongfully discarded depression drama

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Star Christina Ricci lying naked in white sheets make up this poster for Erik Skjoldbjærg's Prozac Nation

The true story of Elizabeth Wurtzel, a young American woman from a torn home, who goes to Harvard to study, which escalates her emotional chaos.

Prozac Nation is written by Frank Deasy (Captives (1994)), Larry Gross (Gunshy (1998)) and co-writer/co-producer Galt Niederhoffer (10 Things We Should Do Before We Break Up (2020)), adapting Elizabeth Wurtzel's (Bitch (1998)) same-titled 1994 memoir, and directed by great Norwegian filmmaker Erik Skjoldbjærg (Insomnia (1997)).

It is an impressively well-written adaptation of the bestselling story of Wurtzel's personal battle with depression and pill addiction, among other things. It lives and breathes due especially to the strong performances of Christina Ricci (Miranda (2002)) and Jessica Lange (Tootsie (1982)) as Wurtzel and her mother, respectively, but also Michelle Williams (Certain Women (2016)) and Jason Biggs (American Pie (1999)) are good in it.

A series of visual finesses are utilized neatly in this very realistic and painful tour of what family-driven depression can look like. Not a light dish or one that will appeal broadly but a great drama nonetheless.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9 mil. $

Box office: 129k $ (Norway alone)

= Box office disaster (returned 0.02 times its cost)

[Prozac Nation premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 95 minutes. Ricci was paid 1 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place from May - July 2000 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and in Massachusetts, including in Boston. The film was acquired by Miramax for release following its Toronto premiere, but the company soured at it in the months and years to follow and only released the film in North America in 2005 on the Starz network. The film did have a theatrical release in a handful of other minor markets, including Skjoldbjærg's native Norway, where it made its likely biggest earning, 129k $. A projected total gross of 200k $ would mean that the film returned 0.02 times its cost theatrically. Skjoldbjærg returned with Skolen (2004, TV-series) and theatrically with En Folkefiende (2005). Ricci returned in The Laramie Project (2002, TV movie) and theatrically in Pumpkin (2002); Lange in Normal (2003, TV movie) and theatrically in Masked and Anonymous (2003). Prozac Nation is rotten at 28 % with a 4.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Prozac Nation?

Out for a Kill (2003) - Archeology professor Seagal in risible shoot-em-up turkey

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+ 2nd Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year 

 

High-octane action is promised on this generic poster for Michael Oblowitz's Out for a Kill

An archeology professor, who among other things locates and removes ancient Buddha statues from China (...), clashes with a cigar-chomping network of Tong bosses.

 

Out for a Kill is written by Dennis Dimster (Cyborg Cop III (1995)) with co-writer/co-producer Danny Lerner (Shark in Venice (2008)) contributing story elements and Sam Hayes (The Deal (2007)) contributing uncredited writing, and directed by Michael Oblowitz (Minus Zero (1979)).

It is a thoroughly incompetent and braindead action flick without a shadow of a valuable story, good action or real acting involved. There is terrible editing, green screen solutions and lousy music to boot. 

But star/co-producer Steven Seagal (The Glimmer Man (1996)) is so involuntarily comedic in Out for a Kill, especially as he spouts out the film's grotesque, risible lines. And this is the film's sole mitigating quality, accidental as it is - it still counts. Out for a Kill is laughably bad!

 

Related post:

 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

 

 

Listen to the credits music from the film here

 

Cost: 8-14 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 547k $

=  Box office disaster (returned 0.03-0.06 times its cost)

[Out for a Kill was released 14 August (Italy) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in Sofia, Bulgaria. Shooting was reportedly stalled for days, when Seagal saw Spider-Man 2 and demanded that the barber shop fight scene include someone who could crawl on walls 'like Spidey'. A stuntman was paid 10k £ after getting injured in a fight scene with Seagal. Though the film is listed as a video release many places, and was seemingly direct-to-video in North America, it seems that it was released theatrically in several countries, and at least in Italy, Lebanon and Spain, the three markets listed on its Box Office Mojo site, of which Spain is far the biggest with 492k $ (89.9 % of the total gross), followed by Italy with 49k $ (9 %) and Lebanon with 5k $ (0.9 %). An actress years later claimed that Seagal sexually assaulted her during a casting call in a hotel room prior to the film's production. Oblowitz returned with 2 TV movies and a documentary prior to his theatrical return with The Traveler (2010). Seagal returned in Belly of the Beast (2003). 6.5k+ IMDb users have given Out for a Kill a 3.4/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Out for a Kill? 

Olympus Has Fallen (2013) - Fuqua's rough and unrefined actioner

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Not a still from the actual, real-life, presidentially commanded storm on the Washington D.C. Capitol Building of January 6 2022, this is instead an explosive poster for Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen

Mike Banning was a Secret Service agent who was close with the US President, until he was involved in the accident that cost the first lady her life. Now the White House comes under attack by North-Korean terrorists, and Banning decides to return!

Olympus Has Fallen is written by Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt (The Expendables 3 (2014), both) and co-produced and directed by Pennsylvanian master filmmaker Antoine Fuqua (Bait (2000)), whose 7th feature it is.

The film attempts to marry In the Line of Fire (1993) with 24 (2001-10) but doesn't get anywhere near the quality of either of these thrillers. It is a shame, because Olympus Has Fallen has so many of the right ingredients. But although Fuqua is good, he is no John McTiernan here, and Olympus Has Fallen fails first and foremost because it is lacking suspenseful scenes.

Instead there is sketchy CGI by the barrel load, and scores of scenes of co-producer/co-star Gerard Butler's (Dracula 2000 (2000)) Banning torturing and punishing bad-guys. (You'll also get Melissa Leo (Bottled Up (2013)) as Secretary of Defense getting beaten up at length and forced to walk on shattered glass.) Without the necessary suspense one mostly just thinks 'yikes' at this and other unpleasantness - and the preposterous plot, which involves a bomb program in the basement of the White House that no-one at the Pentagon has contact to ... Olympus Has Fallen is also souped up in more than enough jingoistic prattle and possibly more presidentially sounding drums than in any film ever before. 

 

Related posts:

 

Has Fallen franchise: London Has Fallen (2016) - Jingoistic and irrelevant actioner that passes the time

Antoine Fuqua: The Magnificent Seven (2016) - Fuqua makes a noisy party trick out of the western

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

The Equalizer (2014) or, Mr. Swift Justice

 

 

Watch a 2-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 70 mil. $

Box office: 170.2 mil. $

=  Minor flop (returned 2.43 times its cost)

[Olympus Has Fallen premiered 18 March (Los Angeles) and runs 119 minutes. Shooting took place from July - September 2012 in Louisiana, including in New Orleans, and in New York. Production scrambled through to be the first of 2013's two big White House attack action movies, beating White House Down to the punch by around 3 months. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release The Croods, to a 30.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#4-#4-#5), grossing 98.9 mil. $ (58.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 9.5 mil. $ (5.6 %) and China with 5.8 mil. $ (3.4 %). Rothenberger was sued by a John S. Green over authorship of the script with Rothenberger winning 175k $. Butler sued Nu Image/Millennium Films for 10 mil. $ over perceived unreported profits and failure to pay him according to a 10 % net profit participation deal. The conclusion of that suit has been kept under wraps. The film spun two sequels with Butler but not Fuqua returning; London Has Fallen (2016) and Angel Has Fallen (2019), with a third sequel entitled Night Has Fallen currently in production. The film additionally earned more than 38.2 mil. $ on the domestic home video market. Fuqua returned with The Equalizer (2014). Butler returned with a voice performance in How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) and physically in Gods of Egypt (2016); Aaron Eckhart (Thursday (1998)) in I, Frankenstein (2014); and Morgan Freeman (Edison (2005)) in Oblivion (2013). Olympus Has Fallen is rotten at 50 % with a 5.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Olympus Has Fallen?

Solitary Man (2009) - Forgettable, undistinguished NY egotist dramedy

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Silver fox Michael Douglas takes center stage with a good handful of supporting stars floating around him on this poster for Brian Koppelman and David Levien's Solitary Man

A swindling, irresponsible, aging womanizer with extremely cold and harsh surroundings winds up a waiter at his only real friend's place, and refuses to end his life's course of running solo.

Solitary Man is written by writer-director Brian Koppelman (Runaway Jury (2003)), who co-directed with David Levien (Knockaraound Guys (2001)).
Michael Douglas (Coma (1978)) stars as the egotistical protagonist in this overly talky drama, which lacks some humor and/or characters that stir up some sympathy.
The film has a strong cast, and there's something weighty in its theme. I just personally enjoyed pals Douglas and co-star Danny DeVito (Wise Guys (1986)) more in their low-brow romantic family adventures of the 1980s, Romancing the Stone (1984) and Jewel of the Nile (1985).

Related post:

Brian Koppelman, David Levien: Runaway Jury (2003) - Gun violence trial as Hollywood show (co-writers)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 5.6 mil. $
= Mega-flop (returned 0.37 times its cost)
[Solitary Man premiered in September (Toronto International Film Festival, Canada) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in New York from November - December 2008. The film opened #34 to a 94k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 177 theaters (different weeks), grossing 4.3 mil. $ (76.8 % of the the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 393k $ (7 %) and Argentina with 227k $ (4 %). Roger Ebert gave it a 3½/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. Koppelman and Levien have both stayed from directing since, returning to writing and producing. Douglas returned in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010). Solitary Man is certified fresh at 79 % with a 6.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Solitary Man?

Rambo: Last Blood (2019) or, Rambo: Mexico Cleanup!

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Sylvester Stallone's Vietnam hero's arguably becoming a Halloween-type revenge-set human ghoul is obvious in this stylized, great poster for Adrian Grünberg's Rambo: Last Blood

Vietnam veteran John Rambo has build a quiet life for himself on his Arizona ranch, but as a step-father for young woman Gabrielle, he now must alert himself to new strife, as she insists on exploring her alienated father in Mexico.

Rambo: Last Blood is written by Matthew Cirulnick (Paid in Full (2002)) and co-writer/star Sylvester Stallone (F.I.S.T (1978)), with Dan Gordon (The Hurricane (1999)) supplying story elements, and directed by Adrian Grünberg (Get the Gringo (2012)). It is the 5th film in the Rambo franchise that has previous chapters; First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988) and Rambo (2008).
Stallone returns with impressive physique, especially since he is 73 years old today, and his face is a chapter in itself; the hang-dog expression, bulges and furrows that make him look like no other 73 year-old: certainly a life of training, violence (most of it staged), steroids and who knows what cosmetic alterations have made Stallone's face unique to the point where he almost appears a new Halloween monster, right up there with Karloff's Mummy, Dracula and Freddy Krueger.
The first scenes show us that Rambo still feels impelled to help out his fellow man when possible, saving a young woman in a raging storm on a mountain. His life with live-in maid Maria and adoptive daughter Gabrielle is as close to idyllic as this traumatized killing machine will ever get. But Rambo lives mostly in his dirt cave system underneath the ranch, a clue to understanding the depths of his knowledge of human darkness.
Gabrielle's rebellious trip to Mexico doesn't end well, (the film teaches us to never trust anyone by the name Gizelle, and also shows us that all Mexican men, (which are almost restricted to cops and cartel gangsters in Rambo: Last Blood), are violent, misogynistic rapists. SPOILER Rambo tries to save Gabrielle but the gangsters' evil claims her life, apparently necessary for the elaborately creative death-trap plans that Rambo then sets up at his ranch, luring evil home for his bloody reckoning.
No one expects a masterpiece with Rambo V. And there are plenty of things to wonder about and half-way flaws in the writing: Where is the violent rainstorm, when Rambo has ridden back to his ranch on his horse? Why does a casual line from one of the villains about 17,000 girls trafficked by them in a year not get followed up? How did the convoy of armed villains drive straight into the US and to Rambo's ranch? And so on and so forth.
These objections are not too important, but what does impede the film are other elements: Paz Vega (Not Forgotten (2009)) is a Mexican journalist, who lost her sister to the cartel and who helps Rambo, - but then leaves the story again. The main cartel villains are two brothers, but as characters and villains they are wholly forgettable. Gabrielle's ordeal and the story on the whole could have done with some more brains; clever writing and unforeseen developments are not Rambo: Last Blood's main forte. But it brings the violent carnage that its pulpy title promises and is still better than the franchise's lowest ebb quality-wise, Rambo III.

Related post:

Adrian Grünberg: Get the Gringo/How I Spent My Summer Vacation (2012) - Mexico is just a little merrier with Mel Gibson

Stallone talks about the film in a 3-minute video here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown yet
= Unknown yet
[Rambo: Last Blood premiered 18 September (Indonesia) and runs 89 minutes. Pre-production was started and stopped several times with different plot ideas since the flop of Rambo (2008). Shooting took place in Bulgaria and Spain from October - December 2018. The film is opening against other major releases Ad Astra and Downtown Abbey. It is opening next week in France, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Croatia, Italy, Portugal and Spain and in Argentina 10 October. Talks of the Rambo franchise's future, coming from Stallone, center on a prequel about the character before and during his time as a soldier in the Vietnam War, which may or may not come to fruition. Grünberg does not have an announced next directing gig. Stallone is announced to star in 3 upcoming films; Tough as They Come, The Expendables 4 and Scarpa. Rambo: Last Blood is rotten at 36 % with a 4.58/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Rambo: Last Blood?

The Expendables (2010) - Stallone's unification of action legends is great fun

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2 Film Excess nominations:

Best Director: Sylvester Stallone (lost to Sofia Coppola for Somewhere)
Best Practical Effects (lost to Inception)
 
+ Best Action Movie of the Year
+ Best Ensemble of the Year

The fierce, gun-crazed poster for Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables

The Expendables are a team of mercenaries, about four older guys and one Chinaman (Jet Li (War (2007)), and they get hired by a man named Mr. Church to take down a South-American dictator.

The Expendables, written by Dave Callaham (Doom (2005)) and co-writer-director-star Sylvester Stallone (Rocky II (1979)), is an event in and of itself. It brings together the heaviest artillery in the American action genre in a way that hasn't ever been seen before: Stallone, Li, Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator (1984)), Bruce Willis (Die Hard (1988)), Dolph Lundgren (The Punisher (1989)), Mickey Rourke (Bullet (1996)), Jason Statham (The Transporter (2002)) and more. In a movie that - for a fan of the genre mind you - really works. Just about everything explodes, while the dialog is sharp and the rock rumbles on the soundtrack.
"Looking for wörk?", as Arnold asks at one point in the film. - And 'hell yeah', we might respond as grateful, action-loving audiences!

Related posts:

Sylvester Stallone:  The Expendables 3 (2014) - Unique, bizarre, largely entertaining third action fireball
The Expendables 2 (2012) - An over-packed action hot-air balloon
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Cop Land (1997) - Stallone faces corruption and turns in some good acting in fine crime drama 
Demolition Man (1993) - Romantic sci-fi popcorner from the good ol' action days of yore
Cobra (1986) - Stallone and Nielsen glitter in lowbrow action fare
Death Race 2000 (1975) - AIP's dystopic car smash

Here are the stars of the film at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con to promote it

Cost: 82 mil. $
Box office: 274.5 mil. $
= Box office success
[The Expendables premiered August 3 (Hollywood) and runs 103 minutes. The film is a reworking of a 2005 script by Callaham titled Barrow. Filming took place from April - July 2009 in Brazil, Louisiana and LA. The film opened #1 with a 34.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed on top for another week with about half as big a take, grossing 103 mil. $ (37.5 % of the total gross). The film's 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were China with 31.7 mil. $ (11.5 %) and the UK with 15.9 mil. $ (5.8 %). The Expendables is rotten at 41 % with a 5.2 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Expendables?

London Has Fallen (2016) - Jingoistic and irrelevant actioner that passes the time

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+ Most Tasteless Movie of the Year

One of the more upsetting posters for Babak Najafi's London Has Fallen

London Has Fallen is the sequel to the action movie Olympus Has Fallen (2013), in which terrorists attack Washington, D.C.

The American president's head of security is about to tender his resignation, when the British prime minister suddenly dies, and the president and other world leaders fly to London to attend the funeral. - But something is wrong ... - Very wrong!

Gerard Butler (Machine Gun Preacher (2011)) is back as the trustworthy, capable Mike Banning, and he is physically convincing and fills out the part with the appropriate macho bravado if not with any groundbreaking charisma. Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight (2008)) is also back as the kind of inane and boring president, who has to be saved once again.
The film has been used as a boxing ball by disgruntled critics and audiences alike, and many of the attacks launched against it are not fair. - It isn't xenophobic, its effects aren't poorly done, and the film isn't incoherent in any way.
It has been devised before the 2015 Paris attacks and the recent Brussels attack, and its plot doesn't feel very realistic given these recent, horrifying events. The film doesn't catch the opportunity to be relevant in our present context, maybe because it doesn't dare to. I think it might have been a great film, if the scenario had been believable, because wouldn't we all have liked to have seen a Mike Banning create order out of chaos in the attacks we have witnessed recently. SPOILER As it stands and in this current, toxic climate in Europe, the pleasure of seeing Westminster Abbey and other London landmarks explode in a gigantic terrorist attack are very limited.

London Has Fallen is jingoistic, as could be expected: The British system fails spectacularly in it, and only the Americans seem competent to handle the crooks of the world. The terrorists are hundreds, it seems, and they have infiltrated just about every London authority. They are also racially diverse and without a foundation in Islamic fanaticism. Their employer is an unpolitical arms dealer out for revenge, but it is unclear why they attack. None of this seems very likely, and this is the main reason the film misses its target.
SPOILER The main villain, who is forgotten by the film's end, wants revenge for a US drone attack of a huge wedding he attended but incredibly enough survived. It is ironic and not very commendable that the solution to his London revenge is another drone attack at the film's end. It isn't a very exciting end either.
Some great actors are wasted in very minor parts in London Has Fallen: Robert Forster (Jackie Brown (1997)), Melissa Leo (Flight (2012)), Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children (2006)) and Morgan Freeman (Se7en (1995)) are far away from the action and fairly irrelevant. SPOILER Angela Bassett (The Score (2001)) injects some warmth into the film, but is regrettably killed off.
London Has Fallen is co-written by Christian Gudegast (A Man Apart (2003)), Chad St. John (The Punisher: Dirty Laundry (2012), short), Creighton Rothenberger (Olympus Has Fallen) and Katrin Benedikt (The Expendables 3 (2014)), perhaps supporting the notion that many chefs don't make for a great meal. It is directed by Iranian Babak Najafi (Sebbe (2011)).
London Has Fallen is low-calories entertainment, and everyone involved, us audiences not least, deserved better.

Related posts:

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: 127.3 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say (but currently a flop)
[London Has Fallen premiered March 1 (Hollywood) and runs 99 minutes. The director of the original film, which was not even strictly speaking a hit, Pennsylvanian master filmmaker Antoine Fuqua (Training Day (2001)), was unavailable for the sequel due to his work on the great The Equalizer (2014). Filming began in October 2014, without Butler, who, it seems, only joined the production from March - April 2015. It was shot in London, India and Bulgaria. The release was moved from October 2015 to March 2016. It opened #2 to 21.6 mil. $ behind Zootopia in North America, where it has grossed 59.7 mil. $ (46.9 % if the total gross so far). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been the UK with 14.5 mil. $ (11.4 %) and South Korea with 5.1 mil. $ (4 %). London Has Fallen is rotten at 24 % with a 3.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of London Has Fallen?

16 Blocks (2006) or, Heavy Traffic!

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This tall-lettered poster for Richard Donner's 16 Blocks presents the almost real-time cop action-thriller effectively but without much color

A police witness needs to be moved 16 blocks to a court house in New York City. The cop in charge faces serious resistance working against his completing the seemingly simple job.

Bruce Willis (Die Hard (1988)) is excellent as a troubled NYC cop, who for some unknown reason is also a burned-out alcoholic. David Morse (The Hurt Locker (2008)) is equally great as his opponent. 16 Blocks has a good anti-hero/anti-villain quality to it, which is refreshing in the superhero-age of the 00s (which still continues today.) The film also has an exciting hostage scene in a bus.
Though praised elsewhere, Mos Def (The Italian Job (2003)), who now goes by the name Yasiin Bey, plays the central witness in the film as a stereotype of a retarded African-American criminal in my opinion. This stereotype drags the film down immensely, as he is in almost the entire movie. SPOILER Another problem is that the ending of 16 Blocks is cheesy.
Master filmmaker Richard Donner (The Omen (1976)) has made the somewhat similar Lethal Weapon films (1987, '89, '92 and '98) with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover that are in some of the cases better than this, which seems to be his last film. 16 Blocks is written by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer (2014)).

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 55 mil. $
Box office: 65.6 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.19 times the cost)
[16 Blocks premiered 27 February (New York) and runs 110 minutes. It was shot in New York, Los Angeles and in Toronto, Ontario from April - June 2005 with re-shoots in July 2005. It opened #2, behind holdover hit Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, to an 11.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more week in the top 5 (#4) and grossed 36.8 mil. $ (56.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 4.2 mil. $ (6.4 %) and Mexico with 2.6 mil. $ (4 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. 16 Blocks reportedly heaved in an impressive 51.5 mil. $ on DVD and Blu-ray sales, which would change its status to merely a flop if figured in. It is Donner's last film. Willis returned with a voice performance in Over the Hedge (2006), That '70s Show Special: The Final Goodbye (2006, TV special) and theatrically in the flesh in Fast Food Nation (2006); Def in Journey to the End of the Night (2006); and Morse in A.W.O.L (2006, short), House (2006-07) and theatrically in Hounddog (2007). 16 Blocks is rotten at 56 % with a 5.9/10 critical averate at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 16 Blocks?