Quarantine Movie: 21 Bridges



When you are battered over and over again about a killer disease, you want some escapism: And that's what '21 Bridges' gives you.

 The premise is simple: Two guys break into a drug storage facility, where they are there to steal 3kg worth of coke (to those not au fait with that sort of thing, that's a lot of blow). It turns out to be a lot more than that. Three cops show up to the reported break-in. A shoot-em-up happens, and then after more policemen are shot - bringing the total to 8 -, Andre Davis ('Black Panther''s Chadwick Boseman) and Frankie Burns (Sienna Miller) team up to find the killers before they escape Manhattan.

Hence the name '21 Bridges' - the NYPD close up Manhattan. "We got twenty-one bridges in and out of Manhattan. Shut them down. Three rivers. Close them. Four tunnels. Block them. Stop every train and loop the subways. Then we flood the island with blue," says Boseman. We are immediately on the edge of our seat. 

The film flits between cops and robbers (Stephan James and Taylor Kitsch) in a movie that tingles the spine and explodes. And at times, you wonder which one's which.


WHAT MADE IT SO GREAT

The Pace: The film never stopped. Relentless, interesting, fun. It was a whodunnit in all its forms, and you came out satisfied. 

Chadwick Boseman: I've never seen him outside 'Black Panther' and a bunch of other Marvel films, but he was electric. He didn't joke. He was focussed. He was.....awesome. 

The filming: Because it wasn't made by Michael Bay (thankfully), there weren't 401 explosions, crazy product-placement, and lines that make you raise your eyebrows and say: "Geez....another Michael Bay film". It was directed by the two Russo brothers - who made three Marvel movies before this one - but there wasn't the sort of crazy action that you would expect for them. It was understated, and a hell of a lot of fun.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO WHILE WATCHING IT

Absolutely nothing. Turn off the news. Turn off the phone. I made the mistake of not doing that once or twice, and had to rewind. Just focus on it. Please. 


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