As a huge fan of action movies, I read about BUSHWICK and was entranced. It's a low budget, gritty, real-time thriller set on the mean streets of New York which is in the process of being invaded by a military force operating out of Texas. It turns out that a bunch of redneck states are wishing to break off from the US and invading those wanting to stay. The film follows a couple of characters, the great Dave Bautista and an annoying sweary blonde girl, as they navigate streets and buildings and attempt to survive. It's supposed to be shot in a single take and the roving camerawork is a real asset, although there are many cuts hidden by sweeps and CGI. The characterisation isn't very good and the bits where the leads settle down to chat inside buildings are quite dull; the worst character is the druggie who is a real irritant. However, the shooting and fight scenes have really fluid choreography that works nicely and are as good as, if not better, than those seen in many a big budget Hollywood blockbuster.

Lucy (Brittany Snow) is bringing her boyfriend Jose to visit her grandma in Bushwick. They get off the subway and all hell breaks loose. Jose is killed. Men in black are killing everyone in running gun battles in the streets. The police is nowhere to be found. Lucy tries to hide. She is rescued from two thugs by a janitor named Stupe (Dave Bautista).

There are too many things that don't pass the smell test. I don't mind the confusion of the start but it can't be nonsense. It does try to explain the men in black but again, it's a lot of nonsense. There is a way to make it make more sense but there is an almost desperate need to keep the overall world structure simple. That also goes for other issues. They almost never just kill a man in black who is down and out. It's annoying to see people knock out a man in black in hand to hand combat and not double tap him in the face. They also rarely strip the men in black of their weapons except for a few handguns. Apparently, people are willing to march into gunfire with nothing more than sports equipment. I call it comic book simplification. It's less egregious when the hero is wearing a cape but this is trying to be 'Realistic'. Trying and failing is sometimes more annoying than not trying at all.

Lucy (Brittany Snow),on school break, is taking her boyfriend to meet her family in Bushwick. She tells him that he is supposed to be the brave male, man-up and protect her....moments before he is blown up. At this point we see Lucy evolve from a helpless girl to a leader. The city is under siege, similar to "Red Dawn" and we don't know who the enemy is until 50 minutes into the feature unless you read the short plot spoiler description.

Lucy teams up with Stupe (Dave Bautista) a PTSD janitor who fought in Iraq and is not all there.The characters were not over whelming and their interaction was boring as this was run, hide, fight. The other disappointment was the ending. Seriously? Dave Bautista is no Patrick Swayze and Brittany Snow is no Lea Thompson.

Guide: F-word. No sex or nudity.