There's a fine line between old-fashioned and cliched.

A happier surprise is the smart work of director Richard Donner: 16 Blocks is all jumble and jangle-crowds, snarled traffic, and discordant car horns.

Fast-paced, tense and intermittently exciting, Donner's latest will keep genre fans engaged with its polished blend of tried and tested elements.

Told in nearly real-time 16 Blocks stops and starts, putting in buffers for decent character moments between Jack and Eddie. It's necessary to understand why they do what they do, but it makes what they're doing occasionally dull.