#REVIEW: “21 BRIDGES”

Review by Justin Waldman for Mr. Will Wong

Director Brian Kirk and Writers Adam Mervis and Matthew Michael Carnahan work together to create a thrilling action-packed Cop Drama that truly packs a punch. 21 Bridges has a stellar Cast that truly shines through and delivers an electrifying ride for the audience as we try to uncover the twists and turns the Movie keeps hitting the audience with.

Michael (Toronto’s Stephan James) and Ray (Taylor Kitsch) roll-up to a restaurant ready to take the thirty kilos of cocaine they were told were there, however when they arrive, they discover that somewhere along the line they were misinformed. Upon discovering it is three hundred kilos of cocaine, and a handful of police officers happen to arrive on the scene, things start to get hairy as Michael and Ray start a shootout leaving a high body count of cops dead at their hands. Captain McKenna (J K Simmons) calls in Andre Davis (Chadwick Boseman) who’s fresh off an IA investigation for shooting perpetrators, and forces him to team up with Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller) to find the two people responsible for killing the cops, and the game of cat-and-mouse begins.

What makes this story such an intense thrill ride are the performances from  the Main Cast. Boseman delivers a strong performance of having the reputation for wanting the truth but also being known as the trigger-happy cop, which makes him unpredictable. The way he manages to carry himself throughout definitely leaves the audience unsure as to what his next move is. While both Taylor Kitsch and Stephen James deliver great performances of low-tier drug runners to cop killers on the run, their confliction with their actions is wildly different and they both achieve magnificent performances. Kitsch who refuses to die and owns for his actions, while James realizes everything that went down was a mistake and there is no turning back from what has happened and just wants to protect himself in a city that now wants his blood, delivers a very powerful performance. Miller and Simmons also hold their own and their motives behind their characters while not always clear, end up having some grey areas, which they both excel at showing.

Moreover, with great performances comes a compelling Script. The story that is being told throughout the 100 minutes takes place in one day, roughly ten hours to be more precise and the amount of tension that is packed into that is what makes the Film riveting. There is a clear-cut deadline that everything has to be packed up or there is less than likely for a resolution and that densely packed time certainly makes for a compelling drama. Combine that with some hard-hitting action and you get a fast-paced action-packed Thriller that will exhilerate audiences.

VVS Films release 21 BRIDGES in theatres on Friday, November 22, 2019.