The highly specific subgenre of the dystopian action thriller has thrown up plenty of greats over the years, but despite boasting a killer concept and a stellar performance from Dave Bautista in the lead role, 2017’s Bushwick failed to make the most of its undoubted potential.
Co-writers and directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion deserve praise for their ambition, but the execution left the fascinating premise largely wasted, even if there is some B-movie fun to be had along the way. Then again, respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of only 48 and 25 percent from critics and audiences points to how even the strongest of central conceits isn’t enough to paper over the most obvious cracks.
The story finds Brittany Snow’s Lucy stepping off the subway to discover that the titular New York City neighborhood has become a blood-soaked battleground. Texas has announced plans to secede from the United States, with a gun-toting militia taking it upon themselves to try and claim Bushwick as both a bargaining chip and base of operations on the East Coast.
Bautista’s war veteran stumbles upon Lucy, with the odd couple duo partnering up to make it out of the war zone in one piece. There are plenty of great ideas that aren’t fully explored, but even if Bushwick didn’t end up as the sum of its parts, Netflix subscribers have welcomed the film in with open arms.
Per FlixPatrol, the militarized madness has taken up a call to arms on the streaming service’s global most-watched charts, where it can currently be found as one of the 20 top-viewed features on a global scale.
