critics consensus

Given the movie's premise, one would assume it's gritty and street-smart, but in reality it's a slave to stale cliches and formula. Read critic reviews

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Bomb the System Photos

Blake Lethem as Lazaro in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis.

Mark Webber (Blest) and Jaclyn DeSantis (Alex) in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis.

Mark Webber (Blest) BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis

Mark Webber (Blest) in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis.

Gano Grills (BUK 50) and Jade Yorker (LUNE) in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis.

Bonz Malone as Officer Nole Shorts in BOMB THE SYSTEM, a film by Adam Bhala Lough, a Palm Pictures release 2005. Photo by Melissa Soltis.

View All Photos (25)

Movie Info

A teen (Mark Webber) and his pals (Gano Grills, Jade Yorker) go on a nightly mission to color New York walls with graffiti.

Rating:

R (Sexuality|Drug Use|Pervasive Language|Nudity)
Genre:

drama
Original Language:

English
Director:

Adam Bhala Lough
Producer:

Ben Rekhi
Writer:

Adam Bhala Lough
Release Date (Streaming):

Mar 10, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA):

$14.9K
Runtime:

1h 31m
Production Co:

Drops Entertainment

Cast & Crew

Mark Webber
Blest

Gano Grills
Justin

Jade Yorker
Lune

Jaclyn DeSantis
Alexandra

Joey Dedio
Hazer

Stephen Buchanan
Noble

Show all Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews for Bomb the System

All Critics (22) | Top Critics (12) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (15)

Visually dazzling and dramatically trite -- it's virtuoso piffle.

August 26, 2005 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Thoroughly fails to convince that its handful of New York characters known as 'bombers,' graffiti mongers futilely yearning for immortality via nightly despoiling of public and private property, is of any tragic interest.

June 24, 2005 | Rating: 1/4

Tom Keogh
Seattle Times
Notable mainly for its hallucinatory, tripped visuals, which go a long way toward compensating for a less-than-riveting narrative.

June 17, 2005

Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
A richly textured drama with an angry poetic edge that gets inside the obsessive subculture of New York graffiti artists.

June 2, 2005 | Full Review…

David Rooney
Variety
A didactic ode to a lifestyle that makes little sense, no matter the darkly romantic rebel-with-a-cause ideas associated with what is essentially an act of vandalism.

June 2, 2005 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

Tim Cogshell
Boxoffice Magazine
Preachy and single-minded, populated by a world of sympathetic heroes and hissable villains.

May 27, 2005 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
The story is so loosely developed and devoid of suspense, it barely seems to exist.

March 1, 2007 | Full Review…

Eric Monder
Film Journal International
Quote not available.

August 27, 2005 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…

James Verniere
Boston Herald
I came out of this wishing the paint can crowd would settle for tattoos.

August 26, 2005 | Rating: 3/5

Jules Brenner
Filmcritic.com
The film half-heartedly paints their actions as rebel-chic heroism even when it has all the integrity of tomcats spraying outside their yards...

June 23, 2005 | Rating: C- | Full Review…

Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
In the end it's all seductive surface and no substance, but Lough has a bold eye and a vivid sense of uniquely urban beauty.

May 27, 2005 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide
A flashy but numbingly hollow compendium of Trainspotting-inspired visual gimmicks, Lough's tale of New York City 'bombers' is formulaic in the extreme.

May 27, 2005 | Rating: 1.5/4

Timothy Knight
Reel.com