16 calles

Such a shame. In the first two acts, this drama had the makings of a nice 4*, but from the bus scene onwards, the story is one logical gaffe after another, with the most profane screenwriting cliché (I was 100% sure the screenwriter was going to unload on me) at the very end. Even so, Bruce Willis repaired his reputation after the bad Hostage. The role of an aging, limping cop suited him like a glove. The sword-wielding Mos Def took time to get used to (and played it well), and Richard Donner is still not an old hand. Summary: easily digestible three-star entertainment. (27.09.2006)

Bruce Willis is quite decent as the ruined drunk, although at times he looks like he's not even acting. However, Donner's monotonous, unimaginative, and (in the end) heavily drawn-out direction drags this film down below the average rating, also thanks to the unremarkable screenplay, which serves up, instead of action, awkward life wisdom about how anyone can change. In the early 1990s this would have been forgotten next to the adrenaline rush of Speed, and today it will meet a similar fate as well because, amongst the current hi-tech action, any good old-school film has to turn all the aforementioned negatives into positives. Both the director and the lead should retire quietly as their efforts to stay ion the big leagues are as embarrassing and sad as the awkwardness of the drooling, infirm old men in the retirement home. (11.02.2007)

Quite near the beginning there is a perfectly directed scene that whets your appetite and... and then nothing. 16 Blocks is a solid, old-school crime movie, but don’t expect anything more of it than a variation on what we have already seen a hundred times before. You would be needlessly disappointed, which would be a shame because this picture certainly has slightly above-average qualities. (16.07.2007)

Good old-school movie. Donner seems to have returned to the '90s and Willis seems to be playing one of his former characters, like Joe Hallenbeck in The Last Boy Scout, only ten years later. Just an old and tired version :-). The story is 100% old-school, but it warms you up pleasantly. It's like the good old days are back for a while. Maybe that's why I’m giving it a rating of 4 stars instead of 3. (31.10.2006)

The two faces of good-old Richard Donner. On the one hand, he sticks to proven tracks and with this stylish crime thriller, he reminds us of action-packed hits from the 90s. On the other hand, this film has many things that are unusual for him. The most notable are the action scenes, where Donner, compared to the LW series for example, reduces explosiveness and dynamism and adds dryness and rawness. Simple and very effective, although not as cool as before. Bruce Willis is an old cat and it takes a decent few minutes for him to get into his usual shooting form, but he never forgets to drop a good wisecrack. The screenplay is decent and some scenes are truly clever. David Morse is excellent and elegant as the villain. A solid, intelligent action movie in an old-new package that will particularly please genre fans and lovers of the 90s. (01.06.2006)

In retrospect, this is not just Donner's directorial epilogue (that he'll actually be behind the camera for the next Lethal Weapon is perhaps beyond anyone's belief), but a kind of epilogue to the cop genre. It's as if the film is an unspoken farewell to the world of police families, hectic offices, crowded streets, and their protagonists – scruffy detectives having a whiskey breakfast in a smoky bar, strapped with guns from their necks to their socks. Of course, this is also due to setting the film in the early hours of the morning, when work is just getting underway and the bars are still closed, but already in the opening scenes at the police station there is a kind of end to the old days of police stations. It lacks the characteristic bustle, there are few people there, and there are cardboard boxes everywhere, like before moving. The ensuing plot is ultimately about how one hard-nosed man dismantles the established police internal organization of crooked, slicked-back cops that has been going on for decades and is well known to us from old cop movies. What's more, it's about the life of a young black man who must be dragged through the hectic, dirty, and rugged streets of erratic New York City in order to eventually set up a fancy bakery. The end of the old order in the name of laugh-out-loud gentrification. If that was the creative intent from the start and not just a happy prognosis, then hats off to him. (14.09.2010)

Bruce Willis, Mos Def, and David Morse. Quite an interesting triangle, two policemen and one criminal. However, the film is definitely not simple enough to clearly depict the line between who is good and who is bad. A good cop is more of an exception, as proven not only by Batman movies, but also by crime thrillers like "16 Blocks". We have one honest cop, one corrupt cop, and one criminal who may not be as bad as he seems. Mos Def portrayed his criminal character perfectly, and he continued this in the series "Dexter" a few years later, where he was simply flawless. It is true that a lot is contributed by his distinctive voice, but even when you are aware that he is playing a criminal, which he excels at, there is still something about him that makes you root for him and believe that he can redeem himself. Actors are simply typecast. This definitely applies to David Morse as well, whom I recognized as the proper prison guard in "The Green Mile", but I haven't seen him in a genuinely positive role since then. Although it is true that he played a warden at least for a while in "Drive Angry". However, villainous roles suit him and, let's admit it, they suit him well. That's why he deserves something more positive from time to time. He excels in both roles. As for the film, it is not surprising. Richard Donner is a quality director and the film looks good, but in reality, it presents us with a plot that is too simple and a bit stretched out. It is definitely not something in the style of "Die Hard" or the more epic "Superman". Good performances by actors in a film that doesn't captivate as much. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/10/klip-muj-strycek-6-bullets-kdyz-se.html (28.02.2013)