With improved camerawork, a more ambitious scope, and a tighter script, Bushwick could have been a winner.
Second year grad student Lucy (Brittany Snow) is traveling home to Brooklyn with her new boyfriend, Jose (Arturo Castro.) When the couple arrive at the subway station, things seem off. It’s deserted and an announcement informs them that the station is no longer in operation. Suddenly, a man engulfed in flames runs down the stairs. Gunshots erupt from above. When Jose goes up to investigate, he’s killed in an explosion.
Confused, alone, and scared, Lucy tries to make it to her nearby grandmother’s house. Navigating the streets is dangerous as the entire neighborhood of Bushwick has erupted into a warzone. Soldiers in black military garb are gunning down unarmed neighborhood residents. Smoke and flames billow from residential buildings. Two armed men chase Lucy into the basement of a house. She’s saved by Stupe (Dave Bautista), a former Marine. Together, they pair up to find safety and, hopefully, discover what is happening.
Bushwick opens with an extremely long tracking shot that puts the viewer into the heart of the chaos and confusion. If only the rest of the film was able to match the standard set by these opening scenes. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The directors, Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion, seem intent on filming nearly everything as a tracking shot. As a result, the camera will follow the action for a while and then meander off into a dark corner where an edit can be made. And when I say “follow the action”, I mean that the actors frequently have their backs to the camera during major action sequences. I don’t think I’ve ever been this annoyed or distracted by a film’s camera work. That’s too bad because the film’s premise is quite interesting and very timely.
From a logical perspective, there’s quite a bit wrong with Bushwick. Without spoiling anything, the tactics that the enemy soldiers use are flawed. And this may be a result of the movie’s budgetary restrictions, but I find it highly unlikely that a force the size of the one depicted in the film would have anywhere near the impact they’re shown as having on any neighborhood much less Brooklyn, New York.
Dave Bautista, who most people know from either his time in the WWE or his role as Drax the Destroyer in Guardians of the Galaxy, proves himself quite a capable actor. Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect) gives a slightly uneven performance. I think that has more to do with a script that doesn’t know what to do with her character than any issue with Snow’s capability. Her character, Lucy, goes from frightened kid to emboldened leader and back to frightened kid at the drop of a hat.
The digital effects used to portray the damage to the city of New York is convincing without ever going over-the-top. It’s obvious that there wasn’t a lot of money to spend on the film but whoever made the decisions about the special effects spend their chunk of the budget wisely.
With improved camerawork, a more ambitious scope, and a tighter script, Bushwick could have been a winner. As it is, it’s just a good premise in search of a better storyteller.
2.5 out of 5.0 stars
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