Devastatingly Phenomenal

Rating: 9/10 (22 August 2017)

I saw this movie about a week ago, right after the events that took place in Charlottesville. I think that certainly added to the visceral and emotional reaction I had while watching Detroit. Bigelow made a really smart decision in containing and isolating the story. I thought this movie would be covering the entire Detroit riots, but instead it focuses on one individual experience. This allowed me to become very attached to these specific characters, and to feel the true weight of this one experience. And this one experience really does help define and give context to not only these riots, but to the formation of such things as the Black Lives Matter movement that is happening today. This was a really smart direction to take the story in, and it absolutely pays off. The performances are all fantastic. Algee Smith and Jacob Latimore are actors I'm not very familiar with, but they did excellent jobs leading this movie. I thought John Boyega would be the lead, and he's not. He takes a much more subdued role, but it works in that it allows Smith and Latimore to really shine. Boyega is good in this, but I don't think he was given enough to do for us to truly see just what he's capable of as an actor. I'm glad he's getting roles outside of Star Wars, but I still think we have yet to see the full extent of Boyega's acting capabilities...