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★★☆☆☆
7 August 2017
A movie review of BUSHWICK. |
“The neighbourhood is fighting back,” Stupe (Dave Bautista)
BUSHWICK is the war movie equivalent of CLOVERFIELD. I am a champion of the latter – a refreshing take on the monster flick. BUSHWICK would be a pretty dope action film if not for the weird racial stuff going on. As a political commentary, the result is a mess. If the filmmakers had spent as much time on the script as they had on the intricate choreography, they might instead have delivered something not only pulse-thumping but thoughtful. The directors of the fun COOTIES (2014) show for a second time their credentials at shaking up genres, and stretching budgets to make indie fare look grand; what a disappointment then, at this finished product.
BUSHWICK is the war movie equivalent of CLOVERFIELD. I am a champion of the latter – a refreshing take on the monster flick. BUSHWICK would be a pretty dope action film if not for the weird racial stuff going on. As a political commentary, the result is a mess. If the filmmakers had spent as much time on the script as they had on the intricate choreography, they might instead have delivered something not only pulse-thumping but thoughtful. The directors of the fun COOTIES (2014) show for a second time their credentials at shaking up genres, and stretching budgets to make indie fare look grand; what a disappointment then, at this finished product.
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Opening on several helicopters flying over government housing tower blocks and a beach fairground, we simultaneously are given a bird’s eye overview of this New York suburb, Bushwick, Brooklyn, and a sinister set-up: Those in the choppers are carrying guns. A wordless prologue, then BUSHWICK begins proper in a subway station as two lovebirds chat, Lucy (Brittany Snow) and Jose (Arturo Castro). A continuous take unfurls as they stroll along the platform and into the main concourse. In the age of inane editing and shaky cameras, even cinema allocated the largest of resources is mostly devoid of spark. The absence, of chutzpah-fuelled direction elevating combat into a thrilling visual smorgasbord, is noted.
The camera move keeps going and going. And going. Eventually the limits of technical prowess falter, as the editing is not invisible. No real-time VICTORIA bravado. No seamless BIRDMAN wizardry either. Okay, so BUSHWICK is not on those levels, but the sheer ambition has to be applauded, and the end result would be exciting save for the confused message/moral.
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Well-armed soldiers, anonymously dressed in black, are attacking the Bushwick citizenry. Are they an invading force? Is it a coup? Carnage and violence surround Lucy, as Jose is unceremoniously removed from the narrative equation. An intended brief visit from university, to introduce Jose to her guardian grandmother, has been shot to hell. The new aim is to reach her family. On the way, Lucy encounters the bizarrely named, Stupe (Dave Bautista), who is aiming to get to his wife and son. Stupe is an ex-soldier now working as a janitor, and immediately calls to mind Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal) in UNDER SIEGE. From his blistering introduction, you know Stupe is going to have a unique set of skills. An odd couple survival movie, BUSHWICK does not hold back on the mayhem.
For a story meant to be celebrating Bushwick’s racial diversity, why are both the leads lacking diversity? There is a disturbing attempted rape of Lucy, where the perpetrators bring up her white ethnicity. A grocery store owner is knifed, and Lucy attributes blame to a person of colour – it is not clear if he is the perpetrator. Stupe much later delivers a confusing backstory monologue. All of this does not sit right at all.
While the story is a rush, the filmmaking sometimes seems rushed. Is a deceased victim still breathing? Maybe one is mistaken but it looks like it, and therefore such a lack of attention to detail is sloppy. In front of the camera, Dave Bautista, a wrestler turned charismatic actor, is shorn of his scene-stealer cockiness (i.e. GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2). He needed witty dialogue here to let him shine.
BUSHWICK squandered the potential to be something exhilarating.
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