Movie Review: Motor City

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+ 

An enjoyable but very flawed action flick. 

In this film, a man is framed for an illegal drug haul by a criminal who steals his girlfriend while he is in prison. When the man gets out of prison he hunts for the man who ruined his life.  

This film greatly resembles Silent Night (2023). Both are action movies with revenge plots, and both tell their stories without the benefit of dialogue. Yet I personally feel that Silent Night did this much better. In Silent Night the lack of dialogue felt natural, and you almost forgot that there wasn't any dialogue. Here the lack of dialogue feels instead like a gimmick and honestly comes off as a vit distracting. You are constantly aware that the filmmakers are trying to tell this story without dialogue. The filmmakers seem to be trying much too hard to not have the characters speak. There are moments where the actors are doing over the top mugging to have the characters communicate without speaking. In silent films the characters mouths still move, even though we don't hear what they are saying. This feels more authentic and believable because they are communicating like people, even if we can't hear what they are saying. What we have here instead feels forced and gimmicky.

However, there is still quite a bit to enjoy here. The action scenes are exciting and a lot of fun. They are over the top and violent in the most fun way possible. The film has a wonderfully stylistic neo-noir look that gives this film a delightfully atmospheric pulpy feel. The movie also benefits from a very strong soundtrack that effectively uses various 70's tunes in a way that causes the movie to really come to life. 

Despite being overly gimmicky, there is some fun to be found with this stylish action film.