Detroit Review
R: For strong violence and pervasive language
Annapurna Pictures
2 Hrs and 23 Minutes
Cast: John Boyega, Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Jason Mitchell, John Krasinski, Anthony Mackie, Jacob Latimore, Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever, Jack Reynor, Leon Thomas III. Samira Wiley
INTRO: This film crept on me out of nowhere. I remember seeing a trailer for this back in May, and I was excited for one primary reason; Kathryn Bigelow. Though I am not a fan of The Hurt Locker, I am an extreme lover for her 2012 flick Zero Dark Thirty which I rather preferred to win the Best Picture Oscar over Argo. I thoroughly enjoy her 1991 film, Point Break and her career is a huge inspiration for inspiring filmmakers. She had films that were hit and miss in the 90s, but since 2009, Bigelow has been on a winning streak with the projects she directed. Detroit is another entry to that streak.
A police raid in Detroit in 1967 results in a multi-day riot. The story is centered on the Algiers Motel incident, which occurred in Detroit, Michigan on July 25, 1967, during the racially charged 12th Street Riot. It involves the death of three black men and the beatings of nine other people: seven black men and two white women.
THE BAD: This isn’t a complaint but instead a warning. If you are squeamish about realistic violence and gore, this movie is not for you. Detroit is a tough film to sit through because of its surreal content of graphic violence. If anything, bring a tissue with you.
THE GOOD: Like Nolan’s Dunkirk, Detroit follows the stones of many characters with different narratives that all take place during this dangerous life or death situation. The thing that Detroit possess that was missing from Nolan's Dunkirk was the emotional resonance you feel from the character. While watching Dunkirk, I did not feel any emotions to any of the characters. Hell, I didn’t even remember anyone’s name because Nolan was so focused on showing the brutality of the Dunkirk war in a civilized PG13 manner. Bigelow, on the other hand, fearlessly shows the cruel and traumatizing experience that all of her characters endure. When a person is shot, you see the spurts of blood that comes out of their body which is surreal and shockingly horrifying. You feel nothing but fear for all of the African Americans who are held against their will in this motel. All of the individuals (even the antagonists) all have a natural build up to where it leads to all of the characters going through this distressing hell once the second act kicks in.
Journalist turned screenwriter Mark Boal excels with a stellar script that tries to connect every event in this incident connect with detail that makes every sequence of its narrative seamlessly flow. Granted it is a film based on a true story and has many dramatizations behind it for some of the characters are amalgams of officers that took part of this incident. Detroit is the third project he worked on with Bigelow with the first two being The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty and uh they're one of the best writer/directing duo alongside the Cohen brothers.
Detroit was a difficult place to live in during the 1960s, and Kathryn Bigelow will show that the most honest and brutal way possible. The film depicts Detroit as a post apocalyptic territory where, you see senseless arrests, aggressively violent riots, and the entire city regularly in flames. While the rest of America is okay, Detroit was a friggin war zone. A lot of the scenes are shot through handheld and rigs opposed to being shot on a tripod. Her use of handheld in the movie elevates the experience that you feel you’re in the Detroit during 67’. There are plenty of visual elements Bigelow incorporates that engross her audience to invest them into the film. The film opens with a motion animation sequence of Jacob Lawerence’s Migration series as it gives a backdrop to the events that led to the Detroit riots. She also incorporates telegraphed news reports taken from archive files to transition one scene to the next and to progress the story along.
We see that the riots were so toxic that even innocent civilians could even get home safely because of either the people or the police. As the angriest of citizens are looting, the police treat them like zombies as they take matters into their own hands and murder even the most innocent people. They only have one intent, and that is to kill any person of color due to racial profiling. We see these racist officers go against the law to serve their agenda. They even go so far to protect their skin that they try their best to make themselves look like the victim of the men they murdered and having no guilt in doing so.
The officers who terrify the innocent young men at the Algiers Motel treat the entire situation like a game where they think killing a black person is as normal as losing their virginity, and it pisses you off. It doesn't help that a tiny sound quickly triggers all of these officers that become trigger happy as they shoot any black person they could get their gun on. One of the biggest examples of these racist officers is Will Poulter who portrays officer Philip Krauss, a man who takes the law into his own hands despite his police chief putting him in his racist place.
You don't know of Will Poulter? Remember that guy from the summer 2013 comedy We’re the Millers? Yeah, that guy who sang Waterfalls by TLC in the movie. He was pretty much the heart of the film as well and some of the funniest gags whether its verbal or physical. Cut to four years later and he now he plays the principal racist officer of the movie. He’s one of those English actors that can brilliantly pull off an American voice but also nail on a midwestern accent.
Poulter delivers a performance so terrifying and threatening that you wouldn’t expect someone like him to play a character so detestable. He gives a Michael Fassbender 12 Years A Slave caliber of a performance as in the character he portrays so hateful; it's going to take me years to be willing to see a film featuring Will Poulter. The same thing happened with me, and Fassbender as in it took all the way until 2015's Steve Jobs to forgive him and enjoy seeing him on-screen. It's going to take me a while to not angrily growl at him at the next film where he pops up in. I knew it is just a performance but this film just gives you a bad taste of Will Poulter. Shit, I can't even watch We’re the Millers anymore without looking at Will Poulter and not have hate fire in my eyes. He was the antagonist of the first Maze Runner (which also starred Jacob Latimore who appears in this), but he wasn’t a racist asshole who terrorized innocent people for their entertainment.
The only good officer in the film is John Boyega who knows cant do many things outside of his position because he would quickly end up in danger as well. For the majority of this incident, he analyzes all the actions the other officers are doing. You don’t get his motive until the later half of the film.
You have many characters with their own stories that all connect to the second act where the film goes from being a biographical drama to a biographical thriller. The film drastically into an entirely different movie by the second act as it becomes undoubtedly becomes one of the most horrifying and thrilling movie-going experiences of the year. Once the film goes into its second act after setting up the characters, it reveals what it's all about as it focuses primarily on the events in the Algiers Motel which takes a huge chunk of the running time. After all of that is said and done, Bigelow doesn't finish there as she integrates the court trial to conclude this story to fully display the cruel reality of social injustice.
Besides those several actors, the rest of the cast give phenomenal performances. A lot of recognizable faces show up in the film, but instead of recognizing them as the actor their character is portrayed by, you see them as humans going through the same incident.
Jason Mitchell who you remember from Straight Outta Compton appears for a brief amount of time and gives hands down one of the most impressive performances based on one great monologue he delivers. Anthony Mackie gives a calm and reserved performance as his character is given the worse treatment through all of this.
Hannah Murray of GoT and Kaitlyn Dever are two of the only women that play a huge part of the incident, and their performances are as genuinely heartbreaking as the men who are going through the same horrors. These women go through the same amount of brutality as these African-American males. There's even a humiliating moment that happens to one of the girls that's so saddening you fear they might end up raped as you feared the innocent African-American males might end up killed.
Detroit is one of those films that after viewing it, you would need to go to a bar, get a drink, and think about how fucked up society is. After watching Detroit, I was on my train ride home and everything I just witnessed from the movie sunk into my soul which resulted in me crying for a good 5 minutes. It wasn’t one of those silent cries where you start tearing and looking down, but it was one of those cries after your mama disciplines you. It made me think of how over 50 years from 1967-2017 nothing has changed for social injustice is still a major issue, and murderous officers who do nothing but racially profile aren't getting persecuted for their crimes.
Whats even worse is that while typing this review, our president Donald Trump, publicly endorsed police brutality while at a rally in Long Island, NY with the officers in the background cheering at the end of his speech.
Watching that broke me, angered me, and proved that the message subtly told by the movie is, in fact, true and needs to be taken into consideration in conversations. I would 100% endorse this film with every vein in my body as it will not only move you but open your eyes to see that this senseless violence and constant fear of the police needs to be fought against and it starts with challenging our judicial system and getting involved in protests. Detroit is a subtle reflection of how the injustice over police criminality in the 60s goes unpunished just like in today’s society. Detroit is one of those revolutionary movies that makes you both think and inspire you to make a difference so nothing as vile and evil like the events in the Algiers Motel can ever happen to anyone ever again.
After watching this movie, you’ll say four fucks:
1) Fuck Detroit
2)Fuck the judicial system
3) Fuck today’s current president and his endorsement to violence like this.
4)
(Not all, but the individual ones who think they’re judge, jury, and executioner)
Now if you excuse me, I’m going to rewatch Get Out to ease out my anger.
LAST STATEMENT: Detroit is a provocative period drama that's not only captivating but eye opening with a tragically accurate yet profound statement about police criminality and social injustice in the judicial system that needs to be changed.
Kathryn Bigelow is a genius filmmaker that doesn't only shows range in her projects but also grow in skill. Just to think she went from Point Break to one of the greatest filmmakers of our time who doesn’t only make a film to entertain but also to make people question about the most political perceptions of our current community.
I know I used this rating once this year, but no film in my entire life left me in shambles to the point that I broke down crying inside the theater and long after I was out of the theater. Never has a movie broke me so much that I couldn't sleep until 3 AM. So when I see a movie that imprints on me like this, I give it a rating like this.
Rating: 6/5 | 100%
Super Scene: Larry’s song.
