All Talk... No Action...

I am not exaggerating when I say that nothing significant happens until the 63rd minute of the film. I checked my watch! The first 62 minutes are filled with a random succession of training montages like those found in your run-of-the-mill 1980's Rocky sequel. First we get a little shooting range action... Then we get a little heavy-bag work from Collin Farrell... Then we get a few simulated hostage situations... All of which are set to peppy rock and roll tunes. There is virtually zero character development in those first 62 minutes, which prevents us from caring too much about these characters whose names we barely know. Without too much effort in the editing room, the entire first hour could have been condensed into ten minutes.

Finally, at about the time you only have a few unpopped kernels left at the bottom of your butter soaked bag, the actual plot gets under way. Our SWAT team is assembled, an ethnically diverse mélange and the token hot chick, all included according to the 'politically-correct' guidelines. Sam Jackson is the leader of the bunch. Collin Farrell is the 'hero'. LL Cool J is the free-wheelin', loud-talkin' one. Michelle Rodriguez is the tough girl who 'don't take no shit from no man'. And there are a few others who putz around and fill up space so the screen doesn't look so empty.

Olivier Martinez is the bad-ass French criminal mastermind. (There are more oxymorons in that phrase than I can count). He is a detained international arms dealer who boldly offers $100 million to anyone who can get him out of jail. Needless to say, this causes some consternation for our SWAT members.

The last part of the film moves swiftly but fails to generate any tangible thrills. We get a few botched attempts to break out the criminal with shamefully messy action sequences. The director fails to generate any continuity or flow to the action and it results in a jumbled procession of explosions and improbable shoot-outs. Quite frankly, this film is a sloppy production.

A film like this doesn't need to be meaningful or important in any way, it just needs to entertain and thrill the audience for two hours without resorting to tired clichés, routine plot lines and standard action scenes. This film is replete with those, and it makes for a supremely forgettable action clone that you won't be able to differentiate from the dozen or so others that are released each year. Skip this film and rent 'Die Hard' for the millionth time instead!!!

© Written by TC Candler

How We Rated This Film TC Candler - D Richard Propes - C Jacob Hall -

Richard Propes' Comment

The odds are pretty good that if you enjoyed the original "S.W.A.T." TV series, then you'll find moderate pleasure in this run-of-the-mill, remarkably predictable film based on the series. The film is paced nicely, but the action is without suspense and the actors are simply going through the motions here. Colin Farrell seems to do his periodic "paycheck" film, a very ordinary performance in a big budget film that allows him to go back and do 5 indie flicks that are absolutely mesmerizing. This is, without a doubt, a pointless, bland money flick for all involved. Is it a horrible film? Nope, not at all. Unfortunately, it lacks the charm, personality, and excitement of the television series and becomes yet another in a long line of recent television rip-offs that fizzle on film.

Jacob Hall's Comment

n/a