Detroit (2017)

[DollEyes]

One of the movies I'm most looking forward to seeing is Detroit, which is based on the powerful true story of the 1967 Detroit riot. It stars John Boyega & is directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who directed The Hurt Locker & Zero Dark Thirty 

Edited July 6, 2017 by DollEyes

[DollEyes]

Bumping it up to say that Detroit got a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Kaitlyn Dever, & Joseph David-Jones discuss Detroit on Build:

[Anela]

This is what I'm leaning towards seeing, if we make it out to the movies tonight. 

[Anela]

Saw it. Painful to watch. I'd never heard of this before, only vague things about riots. 

[nicepebbles]

This movie made me tear up several times. I've wanted to see it since I first saw a trailer for it. Then I wasn't so sure based on a comments someone I know made about the movie. I'm glad I decided to go and see it. 

Yes, on some level it "sucks" that a white director is the one to bring this story to the big screen. I know some people are turned off by that and that John Boyega is the lead and not a black man from America. In the case, this story is important enough that it doesn't much matter. I think she and her team did an excellent job of bringing this story to the big screen. I had no idea how things ended in Detroit so I was scared throughout much of the film and there's a scene where you feel like clapping and cheering and I did. That's how well the tension was crafted in this movie. I've seen all of Kathryn's Bigelow's movies and she does excellent work! Is it all perfect? No but it's damn good. 

The acting was brilliant! I've been saying this since Straight Outta Compton, Jason Mitchell is the real deal! The real deal. I get excited when I see him on my screens because I know he's going to kill it. As far as the black actors (includes men and women) I recognized a lot of faces and saw some new ones. It was good to see these men and women put in some good work. Yeah, John is featured most in the trailers but the other black actors (who most are from the USA as far as I can tell) are just as important to the story. 

People need to see this movie. It's a tough. I figured if those people can live it, I can watch over 2 hours of a dramatization of the actual events. 

[DollEyes]

My verdict: powerful, brilliant,  terrifying, heartbreaking & unfortunately, all too relevant, but ultimately, uplifting. Detroit is, simply put, one of the best films of the year. So what if Kathryn Bigelow, the director, is a White woman? She's not only a great director, she's the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director, and hopefully, not the last.

Furthermore, I don't care that some of the leads are British. John Boyega is excellent here & Will Poulter is a revelation. It's hard to believe that Poulter is the same guy from We're the Millers & The Revenant.  If Bigelow, Boyega, Poulter & the film got  Oscar nominations, I not only wouldn't be surprised, I'd be thrilled. TBH, much of Detroit is painful to watch, but I believe it's worth it because to quote the old saying, "Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it."