It seems utterly incredible that this poor movie inspired a successful series. Badly directed, badly written and badly acted, it is more like a series of action movie clichés than a story. It borrows heavily from various previous superior films especially Dirty Harry. The 'suicidal jumper' scene in both films makes the comparison; in Dirty Harry, the scene was honest, but the inferior copy version, the scene ends with an unearned and deceptive pay-off, a cheat in other words.
It is not possible to speak of the plot being contrived, but rather a series of implausible contrivances one after another. The basic idea, an unstable cop being allowed to continue working (and even being transferred to homicide!), is utterly absurd in itself but it gets worse. Basic procedures, such as handcuffing subdued criminals, are not adhered to, leading to two characters drawing weapons and having to be killed. People start shooting for no apparent reason, such as at the swimming pool. A hackneyed and unconvincing plot about a secret conspiracy emerges. An over the top shoot out in the desert, complete with helicopter. A gruesome (but laughable) torture scene. Gibson hurls a dead body across a room like a deadly weapon. A sub-machine gun fight takes place on a crowded free-way. And a final punch-up while the cops just look on.
Everything about this film is clunky. It takes a long time for the story to get going and it is held together by certain convenient details. The dialogue is wooden, as is the acting (apart from the kids, who at least emerge with credit). The music is of the late 80s variety, and sounds very dated now.
Nor are the action scenes very memorable, just a series of deeply contrived set pieces which neither look good nor convince. Situations are set-up just so a car can drive through a wall or hit a bus or explode. There is no artistry in any of this, and none of it lingers in the memory.
A cartoon, and not a particularly good one.
It is not possible to speak of the plot being contrived, but rather a series of implausible contrivances one after another. The basic idea, an unstable cop being allowed to continue working (and even being transferred to homicide!), is utterly absurd in itself but it gets worse. Basic procedures, such as handcuffing subdued criminals, are not adhered to, leading to two characters drawing weapons and having to be killed. People start shooting for no apparent reason, such as at the swimming pool. A hackneyed and unconvincing plot about a secret conspiracy emerges. An over the top shoot out in the desert, complete with helicopter. A gruesome (but laughable) torture scene. Gibson hurls a dead body across a room like a deadly weapon. A sub-machine gun fight takes place on a crowded free-way. And a final punch-up while the cops just look on.
Everything about this film is clunky. It takes a long time for the story to get going and it is held together by certain convenient details. The dialogue is wooden, as is the acting (apart from the kids, who at least emerge with credit). The music is of the late 80s variety, and sounds very dated now.
Nor are the action scenes very memorable, just a series of deeply contrived set pieces which neither look good nor convince. Situations are set-up just so a car can drive through a wall or hit a bus or explode. There is no artistry in any of this, and none of it lingers in the memory.
A cartoon, and not a particularly good one.