Film Review: Highest 2 Lowest
All $$ Ain't Good $$
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film Highest 2 Lowest. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
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PLOT
Via Letterboxd: When a titan music mogul is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.
REVIEW
1963’s High and Low, from director Akira Kurosawa, is one of the greatest films of all time. I don’t just say that from the perspective of an amateur film historian, but subjectively too. It’s my second favorite film from that year, and one of the very few that has ever earned the coveted S-Tier grade from me. So imagine what was going through my head when it was announced that Spike Lee would be re-teaming with Denzel Washington to remake this iconic classic.
Remaking a Kurosawa film takes massive balls. Martin Scorsese once referred to Kurosawa as “sensei,” and as far as I’m concerned, he’s the greatest director in the medium’s existence so far. A handful of filmmakers have tried their hand at reinterpreting his work with mixed success, with the “Man with No Name” trilogy standing as the clearest triumph. And given Spike’s own track record, he already remade another Eastern cinema classic in Oldboy to very mixed results, the gamble here could’ve easily ended up as a giant folly.
Much has already been made about A24 and Apple Studios’ decision to give this film only a limited theatrical release before sending it straight to the Apple TV+ streaming service. The reviews have been good, but not great. Cannes gave it a decent reception, but not an ecstatic one. Audiences scores have been decent, but far from exceptional.
And yet, after finally putting my eyeballs on Highest 2 Lowest, I honestly don’t get why hasn’t this been rated higher. To me, this is without a shadow of a doubt the best Kurosawa remake I’ve seen outside of maybe A Fistful of Dollars (the remake of Yojimbo, which happens to be my favorite Kurosawa film).
If you don’t know the story of High and Low, it centers on a wealthy shoe executive who’s asked to pay the ransom when his chauffeur’s son is kidnapped by mistake. This sets up a moral dilemma that drives the first half of the film, before shifting into a procedural where the police track down the kidnapper. Highest 2 Lowest sticks to this blueprint, but trades the shoe empire for the music industry, with Denzel’s David King caught in the middle of the same moral crisis, only this time against the backdrop of one of the best soundtracks of the year.
There are changes to the source material, some subtle and others jarring, especially in the third act. But for the most part, the film honors a lot of what made the 1963 version so good. Unlike Oldboy, I think Spike nailed the balance here; he respected the original while still finding room to make this version his own.
The ensemble is strong, but the standouts are Jeffrey Wright, fantastic as King’s chauffeur and confidant Paul, and ASAP Rocky, who makes the most of his limited screen time.
The soundtrack gives the film its own distinct personality, though I’ll admit the score itself is more conventional, even to the point of occasionally clashing with the sharp execution of everything else. Still, the performances, the smart updating of the material, and the Spike Lee flavor layered on top of Kurosawa’s structure more than make up for it.
Frankly, I think A24 and Apple really dropped the ball with the release strategy for this one. This is a film that plays well with an audience, and it deserved a much wider theatrical run.
For me, Highest 2 Lowest is the easy pick for me for the most underrated film of the year so far. I loved this Spike Lee tribute to the GOAT, Akira Kurosawa. Denzel, Wright, and ASAP are all electric; the soundtrack is incredible; and the movie is packed with scenes that just work. This is easily going into my top favorites of the year. Maybe I’m still riding too a high from my first screening, but I’m confident giving this an initial grade of A+, and I’m eager to see how it ages with me by year’s end.
GRADING
