Dir.
Clark Johnson, 2003, USA, 117 mins
Cast:
Colin Farrell, LL Cool J, Samuel L. Jackson, Olivier Martinez
Based on a television series that has little or no recognition outside the USA, S.W.A.T. is the uncomplicated tale of the 'Special Weapons and Tactics' division of the LAPD. Headed by Samuel L. Jackson, a team of recruits are handpicked and then trained to form an elite crime fighting team. They are put to the test when a recently apprehended criminal mastermind promises one hundred million dollars to anybody who helps him escape.
Although this is a predictable film that holds no surprises, in a curious way this is part of its charm. It is certainly not a film to be taken seriously, which makes it ideal Saturday night fare.
You can count the clichés as they occur: a disgraced former recruit (Farrell), a police chief with an irrational dislike of the team, a beautiful yet deadly female officer (Rodrieguez) and, of course, a montage scene in which we see the off duty team called into action one by one. There is simply no effort afforded to break from the accepted norms of the genre.
As is often the case with films of this type, the script is an appalling mess, replete with dialogue that the actors' seem reluctant and often embarrassed to repeat.
Samuel L. Jackson lends a touch of style to the film yet even his appearance seems muted as if he knows he has been hired to prevent the film from going straight to video.
Olivier Martinez, not helped by the script, makes a very poor villain. Not only is he nowhere near evil enough but his character and motivation is extremely ill defined. Ordinarily this would not be a huge problem, but when an audience is asked to believe that the character has enough charisma to persuade what seems like every other person to assist his escape, the film runs into problems.
Michelle Rodriguez, on the evidence of her role in Girlfight is an actress capable of a great performance. However her role here is merely a token one, the single mother who dashes off from her daughter's birthday in order to take part in a mission.
Similarly (and as proved by The Recruit earlier this year) Farrell is not quite good enough to make an engaging leading man, coasting blandly through the narrative.
The narrative is an incoherent mess, within what seems like minutes after making the offer the villain cannot be transported five metres without an attempt to free him by an implausibly staged rocket launcher attack.
The film uses rap music throughout which although is completely in context with the action, seems like a calculated plan to sell the soundtrack album. Virtually every scene features a different song which quickly becomes exhausting, especially when the music begins competing aggressively with the sound effects.
While the stunts are undeniably spectacular and the special effects are as good as anything seen before, this is really a film where you can safely leave your brain in the foyer.
Jonathan Wilkins
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