16 Blocks trods predictable route mundanely

From the director of Timeline. That about sums this up. Richard Donner’s done the Lethal Weapon series as well as the first two Superman films, and 16 Blocks proves to be another romp through trite territory. But, oddly enough, this film separates itself from the others by actually trying to have some form of vague morality and “justice” built in, which makes this, all things considered, worse than the previous ones. Bruce Willis takes the lead role in this “action thriller,” which strangely enough, has very few thrills.

Throw in former-rapper Mos Def and the sometimes dependable character actor David Morse, and you’ve got the stereotypical cop action movie brewing. Willis takes shape in the form of a drunken, washed-up cop, Jack Mosley (did I hear a comparison to his Sin City character?), who is cursorily assigned to transport small-time crook Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) from a prison cell to the courthouse 16 blocks down the streets of New York City.

After stopping for a drink (who could have guessed?), things go awry when the inevitable silenced-pistol crew attempt to kill Bunker who sits helpless in the back of Mosley’s driver-less police car. Mosley takes one down from across the crowded street, and the chase begins as a corruption scheme is revealed that has Bunker attempting to get to the courthouse to testify against several crooked NYC cops. Frank Nugent (David Morse) enters as the leader of the squad of cops attempting to silence Bunker, with only Mosley, Nugent’s ex-partner of 20 years, to stand in his way.

16 Blocks isn’t necessarily a bad film, just an incredibly irritating one. The most irritating part about it is the formulaic way the action is presented. Every inch feels like rehashed and hackneyed territory, with David Morse popping out one-liners like he just can’t help himself. And lame one-liners on top of that.

The movie tells me that if I have a partner for 20 years, I can predict what he is thinking and every move that he could possibly make over the course of an hour and a half. Because that’s exactly what Willis and Morse do throughout the entire film. Except the last move of course. How convenient.

Mos Def’s Bunker is a mix between a crackhead and little kid who can’t shut up (maybe not that farfetched a combination). And I see what he was striving for with his sunken shoulders and strange, head-splitting speech: a unique character. A rare find in an action film such as this.

While I applaud his attempts, Bunker comes off as one of the most incredibly annoying film characters that I have ever seen, often flying way over the top with large hints of overacting.

After 30 minutes of the film, I kept wishing he would get shot just to shut him up. And though his character is built to annoy, he quickly begins to grate unbearably on the nerves well beyond the point of enjoyability.

And as the formula goes, there must be a twist in the end. And not to disappoint, 16 Blocks provides one. But I wonder if you can consider it twisty if the ending remains so pointedly obvious throughout the film, though it did shock me with the extreme corniness of the last scene.

If you have seven bucks to spend this weekend, go see something else, because to be perfectly honest, you’ve seen 16 Blocks before, and it wasn’t even that great the first time around.