Bruce Willis plays one of his best older roles in "16 Blocks". I often thought back of "Die Hard with a Vengeance" while watching this movie. Just as in that great Die Hard sequel from the nineties, Bruce chases through New York City, trying to meet a deadline. Just as in Die Hard with a Vengeance he has got a partner who helps him. And just as in several Die Hard movies a bond between the two blossoms. In spirit, this movie has the same charm as "Die Hard with a Vengeance", which is truly the only Die Hard sequel worth seeing...In "16 Blocks" Bruce Willis plays a washed up alcoholic cop, who has to transport a criminal to court. It seems to be a simple job, but unknown to him the criminal is about to testify against several corrupt New York police cops. An assassination attempt is planned to stop the criminal from testifying. Will Bruce Willis get the criminal to court alive?The story really has got many great plot twists and turns. Acting is great. The few jokes are good.But the greatest joy is to watch Bruce Willis and the criminal bond with each other while they struggle to get to court. It is an action movie with lots of room for dialogues however. But I really love that. In that sense it differs from Die Hard with a Vengeance, which was more focused on action alone. This movie truly excels in its true to life portrayal of its characters. Seen this movie many times now, and besides one lesser part of the story, I really enjoy it time and again.

"Detective Jack Mosley" (Bruce Willis) is a burnt-out New York City cop who is given the simple assignment of picking up a witness in custody named "Eddie Bunker" (Yasiin Bey) and taking him to the courthouse which is just 16 blocks away. What neither of them realize is that the person Eddie is going to testify against is a high-ranking member within the police force who has no intention of allowing him to appear in court alive. Neither does Eddie realize how many other people might be affected by his testimony. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this scenario has been used several times in the past with varying degrees of success. Unfortunately, although this particular picture certainly had its fair share of action, the overall plot became more unrealistic the further the story developed which greatly affected the film as a whole. To be sure, Bruce Willis turned in a fine performance and some of the action was quite intense, but the movie itself lacked the realism necessary for me to rate it any higher than I have. Slightly below average.

Richard Donner and Bruce Willis joined forces for this exciting chase action cop drama about a boozing detective's (Willis) protection of a witness to police corruption (Mos Def, sensational), sought after by one of the corrupt cops (David Morse) and his plainclothes team all over 16 blocks of New York City. Taking place during a period of time as a day ("real time") unfolds, as Willis and Mos Def will have to avoid cops constantly in this cat and mouse as Morse and his guys are persistent but always outsmarted. Morse uses his influence within the force to convince his cop colleagues that Willis has gone off the deep end. Donner is a real pro at staging action within confined spaces, traffic, alleys, buildings of all shapes and sizes, and certainly captures this authentic feel of a chase within a crowded and busy city. Willis is on his game as a down-on-his-luck detective holding on to his integrity while Morse surrendered his own. Mos Def surprises due to his ability to show a flesh and blood character that is undeserved of his fate, likable and genuine, in his situation due to what he knows not for any serious type of criminal behavior. Morse just wants both men dead and will do whatever it takes to see that they don't make it out of the chase alive. I think this is criminally underrated and especially well made due to the way Donner follows the leads throughout the city with the dirty cops in intense pursuit. It presents a seemingly unsolvable problem for the heroes, so the fun of the film is showing how they could possibly escape Morse and his sorry bunch of no-good cops. The bus sequence is especially a highlight due to the complexity for which Bruce and Mos Def find themselves, as a busload of passengers and cops surrounding them presents quite a difficult dilemma. Willis' revelation regarding why he's so debilitated and weary adds a surprising wrinkle to the film as he has a shame that has motivated him to defend Mos Def and challenge Morse over his safety. Facing responsibility for your actions and owning up to past transgressions could be Willis' salvation, Mos Def's character serving as a factor in his rescue from the doldrums.

Det. Jack Mosley (Bruce Willis) is an old tired apathetic drunk. It's been a long night shift, and he's about to go home. He's roped in to bring witness Eddie (Mos Def) from jail to the courthouse to testify. It's a distance of 16 blocks. Then people start trying to kill Eddie including Jack's former partner Det. Frank Nugent (David Morse).This is a surprisingly tense thriller from director Richard Donner. Bruce is playing an older drunk John McClane. Mos Def is pretty fun as jittery talking machine. David Morse has great intensity. The cat and mouse game is very compelling. And the chemistry between Jack and Eddie develops very nicely. This is a great tense thriller. The ending is a bit unnecessarily messy. A simpler finish would be much better.