MOTOR CITY
Starring: Alan Ritchson, Shailene Woodley, Pablo Schreiber, Ben Foster, Lionel Boyce, Ben McKenzie, Amar Chadha-Patel
Director: Potsy Ponciroli
AMARÚ
I’m not going to go say I disliked Motor City, but the big swings it takes don’t always land. There are some great action sequences, including in one location that is quickly becoming a genre staple (you’ll know it when you see it), but the minimal dialogue lends itself to too many slow-motion dramatics that drag the pacing down to lethargic levels. Instead of a cohesive film, it was multiple scenes stitched together, some that dragged and some that rocked, but not at all the intense ball of energy it could have been.
NICK
Sure, there are some highlights, good music, and it oozes machismo, but Motor City is a misfire. Though certainly ambitious, the aspect of telling a film practically devoid of dialogue may be its weakest point, as it quickly turns into a gimmick that hurts far more than it helps. It’s as if specific shots and set-pieces were thought of, and then the creative team decided to build a story around that. Like a two-hour highlight reel. This may work for a much shorter film, but at its runtime, Motor City feels like a film that was made out of only its own trailers.
This film was reviewed by Nick and Amarú as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.