Cert - 15

Run-time - 2 hours 13 minutes

Director - Spike Lee

Music mogul David King (Denzel Washington) gets an anonymous call demanding $17.5 million for his kidnapped son (Aubrey Joseph), only the start of a chain of events which will pull him in multiple directions.

It's a bold move to try and remake Kurosawa. While Living did a good job of translating Ikiru into the stiff-upper-lip manner of the same era (the early 50s), Spike Lee has taken High And Low, and its based-on American novel King's Ransom, and planted it firmly in the streets of New York City.

There's a confident stride and swagger to the film as the opening credits appear against the camera sweeping across the sparkling skyline to Oh What A Beautiful Mornin'.

Cue music mogul David King (Denzel Washington) - the man with the best ears in the business, even after 25 years. However, as major deals for the future of his record label and himself are about to be finalised David's day takes a sudden turn.

After a belcony conversation with his wife (Ilfenesh Hadera) the camera views his reaction to the phone call demanding $17.5 million for the return of his son, Trey (Aubrey Park) from behind a window. Quickly walking back inside he explains what's happening, desperately trying to keep a calm exterior.

Soon, detectives are populating the penthouse trying to do everything they can to locate Trey and his kidnappers, alongside the son of David's chauffer, Paul (Jeffrey Wright - effortlessly bouncing off of Washington in multiple contexts), Kyle (Elijah Wright). From here Lee builds up heat outside of the initial dramatic thriller in how he views the police's rush to help the wealthy King and pushing aside/ lack of regard for Paul in almost the same situation.

The plot moves along well particularly during extended sequences where the action sensibility is ramped up. Scenes set on the New York subway are full of detail and tension as they flow like the movements of the cart. Capturing the rush of multiple perspectives as they near a goal, yet still fear something will go wrong.

These moments are backed by Howard Drossin's score. just about avoiding repetition in these moments and adding to the build up of tension. However, outside of such moments the music feels overbearing and at times completely unnecessary, threatening to take you out of the picture completely - like an intensified version of recent scores for Almodóvar films, where I've had similar feelings.

Things get somewhat lost in the final 20 minutes where an overlong feeling appears in the eventually stretched run-time, but beforehand the pace is largely kept up with the links between developments in the evolving narrative which pulls Washington's character and his mind in multiple directions. Washington is on typically strong form, and he and Wright bring a feeling of stage performances to their turns in this film which add to the drama at hand.

Committing to the roots of its location and the identity that brings, Highest 2 Lowest is a well-charted thriller that keeps its developments and stakes exciting.

Four stars