A Dark, Shocking, And Haunting Vision Of One Of The Most Vile Moments In America's Past.

Rating: 9/10 (4 August 2017)

"Detroit," is based on the true story of the 1967 12th Street Riots and Algiers Hotel Incident in Detroit and is brought to us by the writing/directing team of Mark Boal and Katheryn Bigolow, who brought us "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty," two admittedly overrated movies but two that are still very good in their own right. If there was a team to adapt this true story this is the team to do it. "Detroit," isn't the best of the trio, nor is it the best movie of the year, but it is up there in my top ten.
The performances were really good in this movie. John Boyega gives another really great performance in the movie, as Star Wars has really launched him into stardom and he continues to shine in everything he has been in. Anthony Mackie was also really good in his short amount of screen time, as he has been good in all his other previous performances as well. The standout here is Will Poulter as the head police officer trying to "control" the situation in the hotel, and my god, was his performance Oscar worthy. He captured evil, vile, vicious, and violent nature of his character who is a total racist prick. After seeing him in a handful of other movies, i really made nothing of his acting talent but the guy has a strong potential, and easily gave one of my favorite performances of the year (though I DO NOT condone anything his character did).
The entire second act of this movie, an hour long sequence inside the Algiers Motel, was one of the most intense, gut-wrenching, shocking, and haunting things I have ever seen. Even though there isn't much in the way of character development for this film, you really feel for the characters regardless. It is a terrible situation that these victims were put into, and it makes you disgusted as a human being to watch another human being do this to another human being. It speaks volumes about the consequences of racism not only in past society, but in today's society as well.
The minimal musical score and camera-work really add to the realism of the entire situation and gives the viewer the sense that they are right there, watching the situation unfold right before their eyes, unable to do anything to prevent the said events from happening. It's harrowing, dark and disturbing. The camera work is all hand-held, and the editing is pristine that when the camera starts to get shaky it is edited in a way where you can still understand what is going on, similar to the style of filming in "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty." For almost the entirety of the runtime, there is no musical score.
The first act felt like it could have been a tad shorter, but at the same time it provided background for those viewers, like myself, who were unfamiliar with the situation so that viewers could get a better sense of what was happening in the city of Detroit at the time.
My only major complaint with the movie is that it feels a little too dragged out at the end. It has the "Return Of The King" ending, and could've honestly been 15 or 20 minutes shorter.
This is a movie that impacted me deeply, made me disgusted as a human being that racism was and still is a prominent problem in society today. It was a dark and disturbing portrait of a terrible moment in American history. this is a movie that will spark conversations about the entire situation and the consequences of racism long after credits, in a manner similar to how "American History X" made you think after the credits.
I am going to give "Detroit" an A.
For a further in depth analysis of the film check out my review on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAIMbghP7BA