With just two days to go until its theatrical release, the first reviews for Highest 2 Lowest are in. Here’s what critics have to say about the new Spike Lee movie, featuring Denzel Washington.
When Apple, along with A24, first announced the new collaboration between legends Denzel Washington (John Q, Training Day) and Spike Lee (Do The Right Thing, BlacKkKlansman), they described the move as “a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller ‘High and Low,’ now played out on the mean streets of modern day New York City.”
Given the star power and history behind the movie, anticipation was running high when Apple released the first teaser for it, and, just a few days ago, its official trailer, which you can watch below:
Now, the first reviews are in, and if they’re anything to go by, you’ll probably like it, provided you’re into crime thrillers, Lee, Washington, or preferably, all of the above.
92% Tomatometer Certified Fresh
With more than 45 reviews up and counting, the consensus seems to be that while the movie may not be Lee’s best work, it doesn’t need to be in order to offer an entertaining 133 minutes of a “sharp thriller fueled by tension, wit, and moral ambiguity.”
Here are a few highlights, both positive and negative, about what to expect:
IGN Movies: Begins as an austere class melodrama, but soon gives way to some of the most exciting, visceral images of Spike Lee’s career.
Daily Telegraph (UK): Ah well: everything old is new again, and as remakes of world cinema classics go, Lee’s film makes an irresistible case for its own existence.
Film Daze: Though it’s not Lee’s best, it’s perhaps the busiest movie he has made, and the first in a while to recapture the ecstatic tone of 25th Hour‘s rapturous final moments — meaning it ultimately lands closer to the first word of its title than the last.
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