Highest 2 Lowest is a modern remake of High and Low (1963), the classic crime thriller by legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The remake is helmed by veteran director Spike Lee, marking yet another collaboration with Denzel Washington. The film also stars Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky, John Douglas Thompson, and Dean Winters. With such source material, a celebrated filmmaker, and a powerhouse lead actor, can this remake live up to lofty expectations?
The story follows David King (Washington), a legendary music producer who has shaped some of the world’s biggest stars. He lives in a lavish penthouse with his wife (Hadera) and son, Trey. His loyal assistant, Paul (Wright), a Muslim man with a troubled past, has a son named Kyle who is close friends with Trey. One day, Trey is kidnapped—or so it seems. The kidnappers demand a ransom of $17.5 million, but it turns out they have mistakenly abducted Kyle instead. King then faces a moral dilemma: will he sacrifice everything for the sake of his assistant’s child?
Kurosawa’s High and Low stood out as one of the filmmaker’s unique masterpieces. Much like Washington with Lee, Kurosawa’s regular leading man Toshiro Mifune took on an atypical role—not a samurai, but a wealthy businessman. While the central premise remains intact, Kurosawa’s version leaned heavily into police procedural detai, depicting the meticulous steps of a kidnapping investigation. Lee’s remake, on the other hand, emphasizes family drama and friendship. It’s more emotionally direct but also more predictable. Both films touch on class disparity, though Kurosawa’s original explored it with sharper teeth.
One notable strength of the remake lies in its aesthetic approach. Lee pays frequent tribute to Kurosawa’s style, from the setting (a skyscraper penthouse replacing the original hilltop mansion) to the use of long interior sequences that dominate much of the first half. Lee even incorporates Kurosawa’s trademark wipe transitions in creative ways, and in the finale, he experiments with split-screen techniques to separate the protagonist from the antagonist.
Yet the film falters in areas that feel uncharacteristic of Lee. The narrative slips into cliché, burdened by simplistic dialogue that underestimates the audience. The antagonist, in particular, comes across as childish and unconvincing—hardly the mastermind capable of outsmarting both King and the police. Some plot mechanics border on the absurd: kidnappers using their real voices, or a ransom bag conveniently landing in the lap of the recipient during a train stunt. Unlike the original, which grounded its crime in chilling plausibility, this remake stretches credibility too far.
The film also introduces themes of diversity through Paul’s character—a Black Muslim ex-con with a violent past. While potentially compelling, the execution feels forced and superficial. Paul’s faith and backstory add little beyond symbolic representation, and the film shies away from exploring the deeper risks such a character could bring to the narrative.
Despite these flaws, Highest 2 Lowest is not without merit. Washington brings gravitas to every frame, and the film’s musical dimension—woven into both story and style—adds an aesthetic pulse that sets it apart from other thrillers. However, compared to Kurosawa’s High and Low, Lee’s film feels like a weaker echo: competent, but far from essential.
