Overlong but Entertaining
Summary
I wanted to love Motor City but merely enjoyed it; I thought the action in the second half really elevated the film and that elevator fight was awesome. The lack of dialogue can get tedious after a while, but it’s still cool to see something a little different and watching Alan Ritchson beating people up is always fun. Worth a rental.
Plot: In 1970s Detroit, John Miller falls for a local gangster’s girl. In retaliation, the gangster enacts a frame job to send the innocent man to prison. Life ruined, Miller plots a revenge campaign against the man who took his girl away.
Review: Motor City starring Alan Ritchson finally hit digital this week after skipping theatres here in Canada, so I was delighted to get to see it for myself. I’ve heard mixed reviews and it has its share of flaws which may not be faults of the film, but more personal tastes, but we’ll get to that.
Like John Woo’s Silent Night, Motor City has very little dialogue and is mostly facial expressions and music being the perfect example of see don’t tell. On the one hand it’s an incredible achievement being able to tell a story and have us care about the characters without anyone saying a word. On the other hand, by about half way through I was ready to scream “SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING!” so it depends on your tastes; if you like dialogue (which I do) in your movies. I mean, it’s no different from watching a silent film from the golden age of cinema, so if you like that then you’ll love this.
Despite the lack of dialogue I actually did enjoy Motor City; for the first half I was getting frustrated, but by the end I was into it and the action is what really elevated it. That elevator fight between Alan Ritchson and Pablo Schreiber is one of the year’s best and is hilariously brutal. There are some great action scenes and the finale in the car was awesome. That’s also my other issue with the film that may or may not be a problem.
I am going into major spoilers, so read no further if you haven’t seen the movie.
I think I hated the ending; I was ready for it to be done after the fight in the car, but then it fast forwards to years later and although I get that it’s showing how vengeance can consume you and destroy your life, it bothered me that Ben Foster’s character got to live to be an old man. He deserved a far worse fate than he got as he was pretty despicable. Speaking of which, any movie with Ben Foster gets a pass as he is one of my favourite actors even when he isn’t saying a word.
The music choices are mostly spot on setting the tone for each scene and basically telling the story without the dialogue.
I did think it went on a little longer than it needed to and I’m not sure I’m in a rush to watch it again, but knowing me I’ll buy it anyway. I think it will look great on 4K with all the 70’s neon; the film looks awesome and really captures the period setting nicely.
Overall, Motor City will be an acquired taste; if you hate it, I get it as I have problems with it too. An hour and 40 minutes is a long sit without any dialogue, but I love the sheer technical achievement of it and the brutal action. Alan Ritchson has cemented himself as a new legend of action and I look forward to seeing his next few projects. I’m booked to see Runner next weekend and he will be there doing a Q and A, so that should be fun.