There's nothing like a proper lead actor – and few people on Earth fulfil that role like Denzel Washington. He's got two Oscars to his name, but you'd be bold to bet against him getting another at some point in the next decade or more. That makes him a big catch for Apple TV+, as the lead in Spike Lee's new joint Highest 2 Lowest.
The movie's coming out this week in cinemas, launching on 15 August, but will also make its way to Apple TV+ on 5 September, which means it's basically right around the corner – so I'm a little surprised it took this long for a full trailer to come out, beyond the teaser we got a few weeks ago.
It's a great trailer, too, taking its time to establish who Washington's character is before it gets into the meat of the story. He's playing a massive music mogul, a tastemaker who defines the industry, with all of the clout and money that comes with such a position – but that doesn't mean he's untouchable.
As the trailer goes on to show, he'll find himself in one heck of a bind when his driver's son is kidnapped and held to ransom, and even with the help of the police, things might get very murky as he tries to get his worker's family back together. I haven't seen the original High and Low, the Akira Kurosawa movie that Lee's remaking, but I'm guessing there might be more going on than meets the eye.
Lee is an invigorating, exciting filmmaker, and the way the trailer ramps up in the second half suggests that we can expect things to get pretty frenetic – to the point where the movie might even veer into some light action by the time things close out. Things get more and more frenetic, so I'm also hopeful that we'll get to see Washington really flex his acting muscle, something that can see him scale some pretty great heights.
Whether you're seeing it out at the movies or waiting for the streaming release, then, this looks like another major feather in Apple TV+'s cap.
