"16 Blocks" was a very good movie, but there were some annoyances that severely took away from the movie-going experience. For one- and this has happened a lot to me- the sound and the music was very loud, but the dialogue was extremely soft, so soft that you had to strain to hear anything. And there were numerous people sitting there playing with their cell phones and talking, once a cell even went off. And a person two rows behind me was chunking loudly on their popcorn while talking. I mean really, you pay $8.50 to see a movie and you can't even hear the dialogue, and you hear people playing with cell phones. Jeesh!

Aside from that, the movie itself was very well done, entertaining, intense, fast paced, and had some great characters. Bruce Willis was great as an overweight, alcohol-addicted, cop named Jack Mosley who is transporting witness Eddie Bunker (Mos Def) 16 blocks to testify against Jack's precinct after seeing them doing some nasty things. But now the entire NYPD wants Eddie dead, and Mosley is there to protect him.

Mos Def does an excellent job as well, his nasal voice he made for the film made it hard to understand him though, but he sure was lovable. Director Richard Donner did a superb job with character development, making us care for Jack and Eddie despite their flaws. Something that was admirable as well was that the director kept the language to a minimum when he could've gone all out, and, while gritty, the violence is most of the time bloodless. Plus, believe it or not, there is even a message in this thriller; it's that bad people do change. Eddie repeats this to Jack throughout the movie, as Jack goes from drunken, depressed jerk to an unlikely hero. This is a very good movie that I think many people will enjoy.

I give it 8 out of 10.

"16 Blocks" is rated PG-13 for violence, intense sequences of action, and some strong language.