Arthur Marks' Detroit 9000 is a fast-paced, blaxploitation flick that delivers on everything one would want from this type of police procedural film. There are crooked cops, crooked politicians, prostitutes, pimps, anti-hero police officers, car chases, foot pursuits, shoot-outs, and of course plenty of groovy 70s music. The film opens with a heist, as Congressmen Aubrey Clayton, who has just announced himself as Michigan's first Black Governor candidate, finds himself and his guests robbed during an elegant event at the Sheraton-Cadillac hotel by a well trained crew of masked bandits. Clayton wants answers, which forces Detroit police to put two detectives on the case, Lieutenant Danny Bassett, a white no-nonsense cop, and Sergeant Jessie Williams, a black police officer, who knows the city of Detroit inside out. From a narrative perspective, Detroit 9000 is a racially-charged mystery which is solid albeit unspectacular, but where the film excels is in the setting and atmosphere it's able to create around Detroit, painting a picture of a downtrotten city that has seen violence and filth bring this once mighty city to its knees. This is a film that makes sure to establish its setting early on, making it very clear that Detroit is a place where no one wants to live, even commenting at one point about how Lieutenant Danny Bassett is having trouble with his sinuses due to the horrible conditions of Detroit. This film really doesn't have any interest in painting anything but a seething portrait of Detroit, capturing the racial tensions, community marches, and social unrest of a city that is plagued with crime and corruption. Even our two main protagonists struggle to get along at times, showing animosity and tension towards each other through much of the film's running time, with their one common pursuit being to catch the men responsible for the heist. These are abrasive characters who have been sculpted by a mean-spirited city they inhabit, with Detroit 9000 creating an aura of the need to escape which encapsulates the whole film, as these characters feel the need to free themselves from the leech of Detroit. To this point, perhaps the most interesting aspect of Detroit 9000 is how it never fully trusts Lieutenant Danny Bassett, even questioning his true nature at the end of the film as to whether he was out of himself or was intent on doing good police work. Featuring action scenes that are well-crafted, bringing a gritty realism to the shootouts and car chases, Arthur Marks' Detroit 9000 is an engaging action, mystery police procedural, with its greatest attribute being its ability to show effect which racism, poverty, violence and death of a city has on shaping its citizens.
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June 2023
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