Review of Detroit (2017) by Matt D — 06 Jan 2018

'Detroit' is a well-acted and often intensely directed piece of historical drama but it feels like Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal were never entirely sure what the film should be about. At times it seems to want to be a wide-ranging ensemble film about the Detroit riots but then the events at the Algiers Motel take center stage and while this storyline is interesting it never feels more insightful than to say, "Look at this really shitty thing that happened.".

John Boyega's character is also oddly utilized here after being set up as an intriguing leading man only to serve mostly as a silent witness followed by being potentially set up as a patsy only to have that quickly forgotten so he can resume being a mostly silent witness to the proceedings again. It feels like there was probably more there that ended up on the cutting room floor but what we got just never added up to much of a satisfying whole.