More fun shite

So if this blog was on LJ, I think I'd need to come up with an icon/header pic for fun shite movies. What would it be? Probably Snake Plisken fighting a Dog Soldiers werewolf... but I digress...

Watched SWAT t'other night and I gotta say I enjoyed it. True, it didn't exactly twist and turn beyond my understanding of what film can do and it didn't shake my previous ideas of the medium or the genre but damn if it wasn't a fun flick to just kick back and select brain out.

Another movie remake of an old TV show, we have the obligatory cameos from the original cast, and updating of characters. Surprisingly bloodless for a film with a not insignificant body count, SWAT is the story of Officer Jim Street (Colin Farrell) of the LAPD's elite SWAT (that's Special Weapons And Tactics for the cheap seats) team. Claimed (by the film) as the most highly-trained and -respected law enforcement teams in the world (it's possible that one or two other police fores in the world might have something to say about that). A seige goes poorly and Street and his partner are busted off the active SWAT force. Street stays on - albeit as a humble weapons and equipment officer - and his partner quits the force.

6 months later and the LAPD is getting sick of bad press and so Sgt. "Hondo" (Samuel L. Jackson) is called in to put together a super-team for SWAT. He hand picks 5 people, including Officers Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez) and Deacon "Deke" Kay (LL Cool J) and trains them a lot (I was waiting for the montage song from Team America). They end up being responsible for transporting a very special prisoner, an international drug dealer who has offered $100 million to anyone who breaks him out, and so the highjinx ensue.

There really are not great surprises here, but more than a few genuine laughs and some well-executed action sequences. The fact that Sports Night's Josh Charles turns up as a cocky SWAT marksman is kinda funny, too. Michelle Rodriguez is, as you would expect, an image of hotness and Samuel L. is, of course, an image of coolness. Colin's American accent is flawless, but we've come to expect that, and they all handle their firearms with confidence. As a popcorn and spent cartridge case movie, SWAT ranks highly, but if yer looking for an action-thriller to test your brain on, you're probably better off getting The Usual Suspects.

Three smoke grenades out of five.