When a titan music mogul is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.

Spike Lee’s latest ‘joint’ is a reimagining of an Akira Kurosawa film from the 1960s called ‘High and Low’, with the action transferred to present day New York where Lee is at his most comfortable. It stars Denzel Washington in the leading role (their first collaboration in nearly 20 years since the excellent ‘Inside Man’) as a New York music mogul called David King, who finds himself caught up in a ransom plot as he’s attempting to raise funds to regain majority ownership of his record company.

The film begins with David King setting out his plan to buy back a majority stake in Stackin’ Hits Records, the company he founded, to avoid a rival record label from buying him out entirely. The timing seems suspicious when a ransom plot is set into motion, and King is forced into a dilemma about whether to help a friend or ensure he has the funds available to regain control of his label. That is pretty much the plot of the film, which runs for over 2 hours, and frankly, it doesn’t need to be anything like as long as that despite having positive aspects to enjoy throughout. The positives begin with a typically commanding Denzel performance but also encompass a good soundtrack and some top location shooting with New York’s vibrancy shining on the screen as the backdrop to the action. It’s just that besides those elements, it is a bit of a subpar thriller without too much to hang on to from a story perspective.

‘Highest 2 Lowest’ reunites Spike Lee and Denzel Washington for this crime thriller, but it’s not their finest collaboration and with it being released straight to streaming, I suspect it may disappear without much fanfare.

Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Spike Lee

Starring: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, Dean Winters, LaChanze, Princess Nokia and Ice Spice 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt31194612/