Motor City (2026)
Directed by: Potsy Ponciroli
Premise: Set in 1970s Detroit, a man (Alan Ritchson) is framed for drug trafficking by a local gangster (Ben Foster). He escapes from prison and seeks revenge.
What Works: Motor City is primarily a style piece. The movie has almost no dialogue. Everything is communicated visually through the action and through the editing. The technique works. The story—such as it is—is clear to the audience and the actors successfully convey their emotions through their posture and their facial expressions. Like a lot of revenge tales, Motor City is partly a love story. Alan Ritchson is cast as an ex-con who falls for a gangster’s former girlfriend, played by Shailene Woodley. Their relationship is convincing. Ritchson and Woodley have a likable and sexual chemistry. They make us want to see them live happily ever after and our emotional investment in their relationship powers the rest of the film. Much of Motor City is an action-oriented revenge tale with Ritchson’s character slaying bad guys and killing his way to the head gangster, played by Ben Foster. It’s very well made. The sound mix is exceptional. The action set pieces are produced with visual flair and the violence is brutal. The 1970s Detroit setting adds to the gritty texture and Motor City plays as an homage to the street crime films popular fifty years ago. However, there is a grim sense of humor to Motor City. The film shows some self-awareness but not in a way that is cheeky or smug.
What Doesn’t: Motor City has impressive craftsmanship but that craft is only in service of a standard shoot-’em-up revenge story. There is no depth to the film or to its characters. Everyone is exactly as they are introduced and no one has an arc to their characters. Motor City is a narrowly minded and cynical film. Good revenge stories examine the vigilante’s motives and even better revenge stories make the audience consider what they find satisfying about the bloodshed. Motor City does none of that. It’s just gunplay and stunt work. Motor City is distinguished by its nearly silent film approach to action filmmaking. This is mostly a gimmick. The style doesn’t reveal much about action films except maybe how extraneous much of the dialogue often is in these movies. The non-dialogue gimmick is forced in some places. There are scenes in which it makes no sense for the actors to remain silent. The artificiality becomes so glaring that it’s distracting.
Bottom Line: Motor City is a lean and mean action thriller with a novel gimmick. There’s not much to it beyond the surface but it’s an impressive surface.
Episode: #1109 (July 26, 2026)