One of many joys of flicks is watching Denzel Washington act. Whereas the idea of the film star has modified drastically through the years, Washington stays among the finest of the most effective — a powerhouse performer with a display presence that pulls us like a magnet. Washington has had many great collaborators through the years (one among my private favorites being the late, nice Tony Scott), however arguably the most effective of his partnerships has been with Spike Lee. Lee, among the finest to ever do it, has helmed Washington in a number of memorable roles, and the final time they labored collectively was in 2006’s crackerjack financial institution theft flick “Inside Man” (the largest field workplace hit of Lee’s profession).
Now, virtually 20 years later, Washington and Lee are collectively once more with “Highest 2 Lowest,” a remake of Akira Kurosawa’s masterful “Excessive and Low” (itself impressed by the Ed McBain ebook “King’s Ransom”). Washington and Lee reuniting might be definitely worth the worth of admission alone, and positive sufficient, the 2 execs fall again into an electrical rhythm, with Washington doing a few of his finest work, commanding the display as he performs a once-great man questioning if his time has come and gone.
That is to not say “Highest 2 Lowest” is a house run, although. It is a bumpy trip, and the primary half of the movie is curiously off in an virtually imperceptible away (though Howard Drossin’s corny, distracting musical rating definitely is not doing it any favors). Regardless of his appreciable abilities, Lee hasn’t had the most effective luck with remakes, and the primary 40 or so minutes of “Highest 2 Lowest” had me a bit frightened, though Washington is fairly nice proper out of the gate. Finally, although, Lee begins to chop free, creating one thing humorous and thrilling within the course of.
Highest 2 Lowest follows the fundamental premise of Kurosawa’s basic
“Highest 2 Lowest” follows the fundamental premise of Kurosawa’s basic, telling the story of a kidnapping gone incorrect and the robust choices that comply with. Washington is David King, a millionaire mogul and report producer who runs Stackin’ Hits Information. We’re informed (repeatedly) that David has the most effective ears within the enterprise, however Stackin’ Hits seemingly hasn’t stacked any hits since 2004, and the corporate is on the cusp of being offered. However David would not need to let go of the empire he constructed, and he is cooked up a plan (and a few cash) to purchase a controlling curiosity within the firm himself.
You’ll be able to, after all, take a meta method to this character, and assume Lee is seeing one thing of himself in David — a fantastic artist frightened that his glory days are behind him because the trade modifications (there’s even a second the place David bemoans the growing use of AI). I imply, hell, as soon as upon a time, a Lee/Washington team-up can be a significant occasion, however “Highest 2 Lowest” has had barely any advertising, and the movie is receiving a small theatrical launch earlier than ending up on Apple TV+. There’s a little bit of an growing old man’s fantasy at play right here, as “Highest 2 Lowest” finally turns into the story of David returning to glory with out promoting out — the dream of anybody who was as soon as on prime solely to see the luster fade.
David’s world is turned the other way up when he will get a name telling him that his teenage son Trey (Aubrey Joseph) has been kidnapped. However here is the twist: Trey hasn’t been kidnapped. As a substitute, the kidnapper has mistakenly snatched Kyle (Elijah Wright), Trey’s finest good friend and the son of Paul (Jeffrey Wright), David’s lifelong good friend/present chauffeur. The kidnapper would not care that he is obtained the incorrect child, he simply desires cash, and plenty of it, or Kyle can be killed. You may suppose the answer is straightforward: David is a wealthy man, why would not he merely pay to save lots of the lifetime of his finest good friend’s son?
However David hesitates. It is a hefty sum of money (the abductor asks for 17.5 million in Swiss Francs, which interprets to about $21,727,177.50), and shedding that cash might each torpedo the cozy life David lives together with his loving spouse Pam (Ilfenesh Hadera) and kill his dream of seizing management of the report label he is constructed.
Highest 2 Lowest begins off on bumpy floor however finally finds its footing
This primary part of the movie, the place David paces round his penthouse and grapples with choices whereas coping with the police, is awkward and even off-putting. The actors are doing the most effective they will — Washington is, as at all times, a towering presence, and he and Wright share some nice, emotional moments. However the scenes lack a sure urgency, and that cloying musical rating retains threatening to spoil the whole lot — it always appears like a parody of what an old-fashioned movie rating is likely to be and intrudes on moments in such a means that it kills any momentum earlier than it could construct.
I would not name this part of the movie dangerous, precisely, however it did go away me puzzled, as a result of I do know that Lee can accomplish that significantly better. Is Lee attempting to play a trick on us? Or is he simply uninterested on this part of the movie? I do not know the reply, however finally, David leaves his condo, heads out into the streets of New York, and “Highest 2 Lowest” begins to actually take off. Lee levels a frantic ransom drop that is genuinely thrilling, and the movie comes much more to life after we begin spending extra time with the kidnapper, an aspiring rapper named Yung Felon, performed with supreme confidence by a scene-stealing ASAP Rocky.
Lee and editors Barry Alexander Brown and Allyson C. Johnson additionally maintain the movie shifting at a breakneck velocity, using fast, snappy cuts even in essentially the most mundane of scenes. This method offers “Highest 2 Lowest” a jazz-like rhythm that turns into irresistible, aided at each step by Washington’s dynamite efficiency as he rattles off lyric-like dialogue and reminds us many times that he is so rattling good at what he does.
Denzel Washington stays among the finest of the most effective
Do I want “Highest 2 Lowest” labored higher from begin to end? I positive do. These first 40 minutes are tough, and I do know Lee nonetheless has the products. It most likely would not assist that Kurosawa’s unique is an ideal movie that manages to make scenes of individuals sitting round in rooms extra thrilling than any automobile chase.
However regardless of the flaws in Lee’s remake design, “Highest 2 Lowest” rises above its points due to the filmmaker’s inherent talent and Washington’s unbeatable charisma. For all his proclaimed greatness, David is a deeply flawed man, and Washington is aware of simply tips on how to play that. Probably the most telling scenes has him theorizing that in our fashionable world the place one thing loopy occurs seemingly every single day, the general public will rapidly transfer on and neglect if he lets Kyle be murdered. One other sequence has David angrily reprimanding Trey for daring to boost his voice to his father, solely to then present us David in his workplace breaking down crying over the thought of letting his son down.
All of it is a long-winded means of me saying I simply actually love to look at Denzel Washington act, man. There actually is nobody like him on display right this moment, and I hope he and Lee do not wait one other 20 years earlier than they work collectively once more. Even when they make one other film as flawed as “Highest 2 Lowest,” I am positive it will be a variety of enjoyable to look at.
/Movie Score: 7 out of 10
“Highest 2 Lowest” opens in choose theaters on August 15, 2025 earlier than streaming on Apple TV+ on September 5.
