Motor City

Motor City
Starring Alan Ritchson, Shailene Woodley, Ben Foster, Pablo Schreiber
Directed by Potsy Ponciroll

The idea of a revenge movie has been done time and again in cinematic history, but rarely in the style of "Motor City." The movie was almost entirely absent of audible dialogue, letting its soundtrack and actors' facial expressions tell the story. It's not like it's a complicated one to understand, as we've seen it all before, and without clunky exposition-laden speeches we're allowed to become fully immersed in the film's violence, which comes hot and heavy, and gives deep character dives without uttering a single word.

In 1977 Detroit, John (Alan Ritchson) is an ex-con Vietnam vet who has made his life right and is settling down with his girlfriend Sophia (Shailene Woodley) when his world comes crashing down and he's framed by crooked cop Savick (Pablo Schreiber) and his accomplice Reynolds (Ben Foster) who happens to be Sophia's abusive ex-boyfriend. John is sent to prison for years, while Reynolds reconnects and eventually marries Sophia, taunting John the entire time. With the help of some friends John manages to break out of prison and goes searching for Sophia, and will kill anyone who gets in his way of revenge.

Again, "Motor City" doesn't reinvent the wheel in the concept of vengeance-fueled movies, but has the hook of it being filmed almost entirely without dialogue, with the last time that happening was in John Woo's 2021 underrated film "Silent Night." Audiences don't always need to be spoon-fed information, especially when it comes to movies like this, and "Motor City" carves that fat and gives us a lean, mean, action-soaked film with one of today's greatest action stars.

That man is behemoth Alan Ritchson, who is our modern day Sylvester Stallone but with better acting capabilities. Although a giant, he proves himself to be very gentle when it comes to Sophia, but proving his unstoppable action prowess when going against anyone else. Ritchson embodies the modern day action star, and is able to be unburdened by clunky dialogue and is allowed to do what he does best - be a towering force of nature.

The trick with no dialogue is the actors' ability to tell the story with just their facial expressions, and everyone does this perfectly. Shailene Woodley's Sophia is a woman caught between the affections of two men, but also never allows herself to be solely the damsel in distress. Ben Foster is perfectly cast as the weasel-like Reynolds who is easy to hate from the get-go, and I've already covered Ritchson's ability in this movie as well. Mix this all together with great choreography, stunt work and editing and you've got a great little vengeance flick that will satisfy the action lust in anyone.

The Score: A-