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.
- Time Out: Lee has made stunningly good crime thrillers – Clockers and 25th Hour – but like his protagonist, here he appears to be struggling to stay relevant and still use his own unique voice.
- Vulture: Highest 2 Lowest reminds us, however clumsily, of how much the entertainment industry has shifted, with mentions of the attention economy and the internet. Then it turns around and makes a vivid argument on behalf of going out and doing what you love, whether anyone else agrees with you or not.
- Rolling Stone: The impression is that you’ve just seen a great New York movie, with a great star turn at the core of it, and yet still feels like something’s missing. It’s ultimately an excuse to watch Washington go HAM.
If you’d like to read Rotten Tomatoes’ compilation of Highest 2 Lowest reviews, you can follow this link.
Highest 2 Lowest premieres in theaters August 15, and on Apple TV+ September 5.
Apple TV+ is available for $9.99 per month and features hit TV shows and movies like Ted Lasso, Severance, The Studio, The Morning Show, Shrinking and Silo.
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