You Need To Watch Denzel Washington’s Overlooked Performance In Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest

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Spike Lee’s remake of a Kurosawa film, titled Highest 2 Lowest, has been praised by critics and is currently performing well on Apple TV+. However, despite the film’s success and an 83% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Denzel Washington’s excellent and unique performance hasn’t received the attention it deserves.

Highest 2 Lowest is a fresh take on the classic 1963 film, High and Low. The story follows David King, a powerful music executive in New York City, who is fighting to keep his company independent. Things take a dramatic turn when someone plans to kidnap David’s son for a large ransom, but mistakenly abducts the child of his chauffeur instead.

Despite the confusion, the kidnapper’s ransom demand hasn’t changed, forcing David to make a difficult choice between his money and his friend’s safety. This creates a compelling moral conflict, and while Lee’s film, Highest 2 Lowest, doesn’t achieve the same level of perfection as Kurosawa’s original, it’s still a skillfully made adaptation.

Denzel Washington Gave A Great Performance In Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest

Denzel Washington and Spike Lee have a well-established partnership. Highest 2 Lowest is their fifth film together, following Mo’ Better Blues, Malcolm X, He Got Game, and Inside Man. However, it’s been almost 20 years since they last collaborated. While Washington’s performance in Highest 2 Lowest hasn’t received the same acclaim as his work in their previous films, many believe it deserves similar praise.

Denzel Washington is fantastic in this film. He’s both hilarious and captivating, and completely dominates every scene he’s in. It’s a powerful and nuanced dramatic performance, perfectly capturing the internal struggle and guilt of his character. He also brings surprising moments of levity, like when he unexpectedly starts rapping Nas lyrics.

How Highest 2 Lowest Compares To Akira Kurosawa’s High & Low

While sharing the same core story, Highest 2 Lowest is quite different from the original Kurosawa film. Staying true to his style, director Lee sets the remake in New York City instead of Japan. He reimagines a key scene – the dropping of a valuable item – on a busy subway platform, incorporating the energy of the Puerto Rican Day Parade and fans on their way to a Yankees game.

I’ve always been fascinated by remakes, and this one really caught my attention. In the original film, the main character was a corporate type – a board member at a shoe company. But the remake? They’ve updated him brilliantly, making him a music producer, and not just any producer, but someone with ‘the best ears in the business,’ which is a fantastic detail. The director, Lee, smartly kept the really intense showdown between the protagonist and the kidnapper – it’s a classic scene! – but he moved the whole thing from a prison to a recording studio, which is a cool visual shift. But here’s the thing that really got me: he doesn’t just stop there. He takes the story beyond that iconic confrontation, and I was completely hooked.

While Kurosawa concluded his film with a dramatic showdown, Lee uses that same scene to launch into a fast-paced finale. For most of its runtime, Highest 2 Lowest closely follows the original, but the last thirty minutes take a different path – and are arguably the weakest part, as it’s hard to improve upon a classic. Luckily, this slight dip in quality doesn’t ruin the movie overall.

Spike Lee Previously Directed A Much Worse Remake Of A World Cinema Classic

Honestly, when I heard Spike Lee was tackling a remake of a Kurosawa film, I was a little worried. We’ve seen this happen before, and it doesn’t always go well. I remember when he did Oldboy back in 2013 – an English-language version that critics really didn’t like, and it didn’t do very well in theaters. So, yeah, I approached this announcement with a bit of caution.

Spike Lee’s remake of Oldboy feels cautious, avoiding the bold risks and complex themes of Park Chan-wook’s original film. It also lacks the raw, shocking impact of the 2003 Korean version. This established a pattern, making the disappointing result of Lee’s remake of High and Low somewhat predictable.

Every Spike Lee Movie To Watch After Highest 2 Lowest

Fortunately, Highest 2 Lowest wasn’t a rehash of the 2013 Oldboy, and it’s actually one of Lee’s strongest films in recent years. If you’re new to Lee’s work, Highest 2 Lowest is a great place to start – it only scratches the surface of his impressive filmography. Lee is a truly exceptional filmmaker, and his movies often explore important social issues.

In 1986, Lee made his first feature film, a charming black-and-white romantic comedy called She’s Gotta Have It. Along with Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise, it helped breathe new life into independent filmmaking. While She’s Gotta Have It introduced Lee to audiences, it was his 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, that cemented his place as a cinematic icon.

Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing is a powerful and realistic portrayal of racial conflict in a Brooklyn neighborhood, and many consider it his best work. If you enjoyed Highest 2 Lowest, you should also explore Lee’s other films with Denzel Washington, particularly the outstanding biography Malcolm X and the suspenseful heist movie Inside Man.

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2026-01-26 02:29