Spike Lee channels his inner Kurosawa in 'Highest 2 Lowest'

Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons

Highest 2 LowestDirected by Spike Lee (R)★★★"A new Spike Lee movie is still a calendar-clearing event," said David Fear in Rolling Stone. The latest addition to his canonical but up-and-down oeuvre bears the title Highest 2 Lowest yet "falls ironically right smack dab in the middle." Denzel Washington, in his fifth Spike Lee joint, stars as David King, a once-mighty music mogul who is pursuing a crowning business deal when he's told that his tee…

The 1A Movie Club sees ‘Highest 2 Lowest’

The film reimagines Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 classic, “High and Low.” How does it stack up?

Highest 2 Lowest Makes the Most of Its Melting-Pot Lineage

Crackling with energy and rich in journalistic detail, the new Spike Lee joint Highest 2 Lowest is his fifth collaboration with headliner Denzel Washington, but their first pairing since the marvelous heist flick Inside Man 19 years ago. In that film, Washington played the blue-collar lawman trying to negotiate a hostage release while being deliberately kept in the dark by some very wealthy, very powerful New Yorkers. This time, Washington is on…

Ilfenesh Hadera Finds Her Rhythm Beside Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s ‘Highest 2 Lowest’

By Malik Peay ·Updated August 19, 2025 Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… Ilfenesh Hadera is familiar with Spike Lee’s directorial game — an energetic way of Black storytelling with a strongly distinct voice. The Harlem, New York native has starred in his She’s Gotta Have It (2017) Netflix reboot and now is a part of his newest feature film, Highest 2 Lowest. Inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 picture, High and Low, Pam King (Hadera) >Denze…

Spike Lee On Dynamic Duos & Reimagining Kurosawa : Fresh Air

Spike Lee's new film, Highest 2 Lowest, centers on a music mogul (Denzel Washington) who faces a moral dilemma when kidnappers mistakenly hold his friend's son ransom instead of his own: Will he risk it all to save a child who isn't his? The Oscar-winning filmmaker spoke with Tonya Mosley about his decades-long partnership with Denzel, an upcoming docuseries about Hurricane Katrina, and Do The Right Thing, 35+ years later.  Learn more about spon…

Spike Lee channels his inner Kurosawa in 'Highest 2 Lowest'

I came away more disappointed than enchanted by “Highest 2 Lowest,” IR movie reviewer Brent Northup says. "I had set the bar very high."