Review: S.W.A.T. (2003)

SWAT
| 3.5/5 stars |

REVIEW BY JOHN ULMER

People are often complaining about Hollywood these days, saying how 
commercialized and greedy it's become over the years, and how the quality of 
films such as "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca" are long forgotten. It's true. 
The most perdinent proof that Hollywood is running out of original ideas is 
the fact that film executives are constantly giving the thumbs up to remakes 
of old 60s and 70s TV shows like "The Brady Bunch" and "Charlie's Angels." 
Next year we're all going to be sitting through "Bewitched" with Nicole 
Kidman and Will Ferrell. The question is: Does "Bewitched" even need a 
remake?

That's not to say that there aren't original writers out there. Having 
written a fair share of film screenplays myself, and having read many 
others, the supply of original scripts is quite high. The demand is not. 
It's sad when quality films are passed for big-budget extravaganzas with not 
an ounce of thought and given the green light simply because some overweight 
pen pusher is considering the zeros.

"SWAT" is a breath of fresh air from the typical TV show remakes. It's not 
one of the best films in recent memory, but it's not nearly as cliched or 
goofy as I had imagined before going to see it. In fact, it's surprisingly 
gritty - more like an R-rated movie than a PG-13.

The film stars Colin Farrell as Jim Street. In the beginning, Jim is taking 
part in a routine hostage situation. At first it's being controlled by the 
police, but then matters become desperate. "Call in the SWAT," a cop says 
over a radio transmission, and then we see Jim and his five-year partner, 
Gamble (Jeremy Renner), giving their best efforts.

Gamble injures a hostage with a shot he wasn't supposed to take, though, and 
Jim and Gamble are reprimanded. Gamble is thrown off the force and Jim is 
reassigned to the lowly life of a SWAT weapons expert. Six months go by, and 
Sgt. Dan "Hondo" (Samuel L. Jackson) gives his machine gun to Jim, who does 
a great job tweaking around with it. And, as if by luck, Dan is assigned to 
put together a new SWAT team. He chooses Jim, based on his weapon skills; 
Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez), a tough lady; T.J. McCabe (Josh 
Charles), the wimpy guy; Michael Boxer (Brian Van Holt), Jim's enemy on the 
force; and Deke (LL Cool J), a fast runner, as proved in his introductory 
sequence.

After the routine training scenes, the action jumpstarts when a foreign 
kingpin, Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez) comes to town in hopes of making a 
name for himself. But that doesn't happen - much to the audiences' surprise 
- because Alex is arrested for a broken tail light and thrown in jail.

That's how the trouble starts. Alex offers a high payment to anyone who can 
break him out of jail - and during a prisoner transport, this happens, 
headed by Gamble and his cronies. Jim and co. are sent after the ex-SWAT 
member and his gang, in hopes of taking them down before Alex gets out of 
the country and so on and so forth.

Sounds pretty standard, right? It is. But the film is directed by Clark 
Johnson in a distinctly grainy style, reminiscent of "Training Day," only a 
bit softer. And the script doesn't resort to cliches all that often - when 
you think there's going to be a car chase, or a big shoot-out, nothing 
happens. Which is actually quite a relief, despite the fact that some 
audiences may have been expecting something a little bit...more.

Colin Farrell is doing exactly what he did in "The Recruit," acting smart 
and tough. Michelle Rodriguez is starting to stereotype herself after such 
flicks as "The Fast and the Furious" and "Resident Evil," playing tough 
women in both films, but I suppose that's all she really can play.

The actor who really surprised is an actor who's been around for quite some 
time: Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson is enjoyable, as usual, as the guy who 
knows everything - a role that usually fits him. But he steals the show from 
the other actors with his sly coolness that he displayed in "Pulp Fiction."

"SWAT" isn't as goofy as you think it's going to be. It's also not as 
action-packed as you might expect. If you want another "Die Hard" rip-off, 
look elsewhere. "SWAT" is, surprisingly, a pretty smart and character-driven 
action movie that never resorts to the typical action film cliches.

It's not a great movie, but given the other awful TV show remakes abounding 
the film market, you could certainly do worse than "SWAT."

- John Ulmer
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X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1223596
X-RT-TitleID: 1124823
X-RT-SourceID: 1382
X-RT-AuthorID: 6769
X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/5