S.W.A.T. Review

http://31reviewsin31days.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/day-30/

Day 30: S.W.A.T.
Well, this is the last movie review that I have to do, but unlike the other forms of media that I’ve been touching upon, I’ve always had a massive list of potential movies to write about, so I’ve been kind of spoiled for choice for this. I jumped from covering Super (Mainly because of my Ellen Page fixation), to Die Hard 4, to Inception (Mainly because of my Ellen Page fixation), but I finally decided that instead of talking about a film that I know most people like, I’ll do my best to help out a movie that I feel is rather underrated. So, I shall do my best to come to the defence of S.W.A.T.

Released in 2003, S.W.A.T. follows Jim Street, a SWAT member who is demoted after a hostage is shot by his partner (Played by Jeremy “Hawkeye” Renner) when they try to stop a bank robbery. Whilst working back at the station, Jim is noticed by none other than Samuel L. Jackson, who basically plays himself throughout the movie, and when Sam is asked to put together his own SWAT team, Street gets another shot at proving himself, along with LL Cool J, Michelle Rodriguez and some other actors that I don’t care about. Meanwhile, some snooty French crime lord is arrested, and boldly claims that he will pay £100,000,000 to whoever breaks him out. So, once the new SWAT team all get along with each other and have a few laughs detaining crazed gunmen, they are tasked with ensuring that the evil French dude is transferred to federal custody without any money-hungry individuals getting a hold of him. Obviously, the convoy is attacked, by none other than Hawkeye himself (Amongst others who nobody really cares about), who gets his guy and is relentlessly chased down by the SWAT officers until he is eventually caught, beaten to a pulp and eventually decapitated by a train.

The funny thing about S.W.A.T. is that as much as the plot is generic, and the actors aren’t really performing at their best, and the whole package just feels like a quick way of earning the studio some money, something about it just…works. There’s nothing inherently new or interesting that’s being brought to the table, but it’s pretty bloody entertaining! None of the big names received nods from the Academy for their roles here, but there is a certain chemistry and believability about the group that’s hard to ignore. The plot is pretty generic, but it’s entertaining enough to keep your mind busy for a couple of hours. The whole “being betrayed by your former partner” thing isn’t exactly a shocking revelation, and the fact that the entire team was caught off-guard by one of their own turning against them is a bit of a stretch, but it does what it sets out to do. It’s rather spectacular in it’s unspectacularness(?), but there is nothing inherently wrong with it. All the mediocre pieces seem to fit together to create a thoroughly entertaining experience

I’m not quite sure what it is about this movie that grabs me, because I’ve seen other movies try the same sort of action with the same sort of cast, and it always comes off as a bit shallow, but S.W.A.T. seems to have pulled off something quite interesting. It conforms to almost every Hollywood cliché I can think of, yet still manages to come off as something fresh and interesting. That’s like buying an old CRT TV and finding out it’s got a 3D HD display! Colin Farrell, despite me not rating him very highly as an actor, does a pretty good job with his role. The role as team leader was probably written for Samuel L. Jackson, and if it wasn’t, it just goes to show what a class act he really is. LL Cool J and Michelle Rodriguez have both cut their teeth on movies like this before, and perform their respective roles with more than enough attitude to help them stand out. The real stand out performance for me has to be Jeremy Renner, who was more or less an unknown in the acting world, and with the list of big names attached to this project, it would have been easy for him to become rather forgettable, but he pulls off his role as the main antagonist with a certain edge, bouncing well off of Farrell’s performance. This movie wasn’t exactly a springboard to success, but I can’t image that it hurt his eventual rise to recognition!

So, on the face of it, S.W.A.T. doesn’t look like it’s going to be any good, and looking a bit further into it, you still see no evidence to point to the contrary, but something about just seems to work in it’s favour. The chemistry between the team, the slightly farcical nature of the story, the pretty cool score (composed by the same guy who did Batman Returns and Batman & Robin, which despite being movies of a…questionable quality, had amazing scores) and the fast pace of the movie just come together to form a very nice little popcorn action movie. Will it question the way you look at modern law enforcement? I sure as hell hope not! Will it keep you talking about it for weeks to come? Not unless it’s the only movie you have literally ever seen! Will it keep you entertained for 2 hours! You’re damn right it will! For being the purest example of an uncomplicated and entertaining action movie that I can think of, S.W.A.T. gets an 8/10!