Detroit (2017)

[baumer]

Discuss

[Kvikk Lunsj]

Powerful disturbing, well acted, and sadly lot of this stuff still goes unto this day. 

[WrathOfHan]

Detroit is a masterpiece. Plain and simple. 10/10 | A+

[MrPink]

I thought about B, I thought about A-...

 

This is clearly a well crafted film, but something about it is throwing me off. I don't think Bigelow and co took any pleasure in making it as intense as possible, but there's almost a perverse element to the way some stuff plays out. There were a couple scenes of laughter at moments that I think should have been played as more disturbing/sad than it does. The way the cops casually set up Carl to have attacked them for example is so matter of fact, and while it's probably true, I feel like the film occasionally gets too matter of fact and fails to really take a stance.

 

The person who played the singer of the Dramatics was very impressive.

 

B+

[baumer]

This is the type of film that makes you mad.  We'll never know exactly what took place in that hotel, but there were enough witnesses and testimony to tell us what probably happened.  And the two cops never deny that they confessed to the murders, but because their Miranda rights weren't read, they got off clean.  I respect the law, and I get why the Miranda act is in place, but that is just wrong.  

 

The movie itself is well done and well directed and beautifully acted,  I was especially impressed with Poulter, who is way too good at being an asshole. Mackie and Boyega were excellent as well.  The two young white girls were both good as well.

 

Detroit is a film that gives us a sad glimpse into what happened 50 years ago, and it also reminds us that not much has changed since.

 

9/10

[Ethan Hunt]

When shit goes down in the hotel (how much of the movie was that. Had to have been at least 50 minutes right?) It is damn straight mesmerizing and horrifying. Insanely well done

[Water Bottle]

It's really good but it had too much fat in my opinion. 

 

B+

[The Panda]

I think it's a little long but it's truthful and works to try to give background and open eyes to some of the realities that police brutality was and is still a thing, and how the same arguments 50 years ago are still being held today.

 

The hotel scenes are disturbing, and there's moments that almost feel like humor from the confusion but it's to sinister to make you laugh, that was my big detraction from the film.  For a film that seems to be criticizing passitivity, it can be pretty passive.

 

What I liked best about the film was that it also offers a lot of sharp commentary on the bystander effect.  People will say "Man, that's messed up!" and then turn an eye and do nothing.  Even those who help don't really, they would rather avoid the mess than try to help fix it.  While the silence didn't mean the bystanders approved, it did mean that they sat back and let it happen, without giving much effort to de-escalate the situation.

 

I think the film could have used a little bit of trimming, it meandered a bit, and it could have compressed some of the first two acts and added a bit more to the trial (for example, maybe demonstrating the "fake" trial civil rights activists at the time held so they could declare the three men guilty).

 

It's an unsettling movie, with a great ensemble cast, but at times can feel as if it's a bit much.  It needed a little bit more humanity than what was offered.

 

B+

[Blankments]

There are no shortage of quotes on how, compared to every other art form, cinema is reality. Agree or disagree with that sentiment, Detroit hits hard because it is reality. Something that happened in 1967 that should've never happened then, continues occurring over and over again forty years later. A hard watch, Detroit feels real in its ugliness. Bigelow directs the movie well, providing taut tension, and the ensemble is one of the year's best. Algee Smith is the highlight as Larry, being an absolutely marvelous discovery. The cinematography is perfect, and technically, everything is well done. The only flaw is a prolonged first act that feels highly unnecessary compared to what the rest of the film is about.

 

Yet, standard criticism feels odd to do for Detroit. Watching a film like this after all that's happened in the United States recently, and especially after last weekend, just adds to the feeling of despair. Yet, I don't think Bigelow wants us to entirely feel despair with how she decides to end this film. Larry's ending feels ambivalent if anything. Detroit is an excellent film, but more importantly, it's necessary. It's necessary to feel this anger while watching it and while watching how the world acts. A powerful film in every sense. A

[The Stingray]

Powerful and captivating for the most part but could have used tighter editing. Shave off 20 min or so and I would have given it an A.

 

B
 

[somebody85]

I really don't understand why this film is getting snubbed awards wise and Get Out is getting all the acclaim. Detroit is a far better movie.

[GeneralKong]

I think that this might be Kathryn Bigelow's best film yet, and I am really disappointed about its lack of press attention. Given how Hollywood likes to omit uncomfortable details when depicting troubling events in relatively close historical proximity (50 years in this case), it is great to see a film that does not undermine itself by diluting the horrors at the core of the lingering injustices that it seeks to shed light on.

 

A

 

Edited January 16, 2018 by GeneralKong