S.W.A.T. is the movie equivalent of boys playing with a bunch of toy
policemen . . . and just about as involving for anyone who's not in on
the game.
There's plenty of flash and sizzle in this tale of a bunch of new
recruits to the L.A.P.D.'s Special Weapon and Tactics squad, the people
who get called in when all else fails.
Flame throwers. Bazookas. Crashing helicopters. A demolition derby
chase. The takeover of a Los Angeles subway train. A small jet landing
between the streetlights on a very narrow bridge. Even a trek through a
creepy storm drain under the streets of Los Angeles.
For a moment I half expected to see the giant ants of Them! turn up down
there. Alas, they did not. They would have added something new to a film
that's otherwise strictly formula stuff. The only big surprise is that
this violent exercise is rated PG-13.
There's not a lot of substance to make one care about any of the movie's
characters. Most are simply stereotypes -- the stalwart sergeant trying
to pull together his crew of raw recruits; the young cop trying to prove
himself after a bank robbery raid gone wrong; the young female cop
trying to prove she's tough as any man. We've seen them all before on a
dozen TV shows. If it weren't for some of the movie's elaborate chases,
S.W.A.T. would seem network-ready: just plop in the commercials. It's no
coincidence that director Clark Johnson, who once co-starred on TV's
Homicide: Life on the Streets, previously directed a string of TV shows.
S.W.A.T. shoves the audience's noses right into the action from the
start as the police try to stop a very violent bank robbery in progress
and protect the hostages. It's like a training film because we have no
idea who the robbers are, what they're after, nor who any of the cops
are either. During the police action, something goes wrong and two of
the youngest cops -- Colin Farrell as Jim Street and Jeremy Renner as
Brian Gamble -- wind up in hot water for not following orders to the
letter.
Brian is a cocky upstart who quits the force, but will turn up again and
again to taunt Jim for his decision to remain a cop. Jim accepts his
doghouse demotion, soon catching the eye of Sgt. Dan "Hondo" Harrelson
(Samuel L. Jackson) who is looking to build a new S.W.A.T. team, despite
the disapproval of his captain (Larry Poindexter).
All this takes lots of time to establish and includes plenty of training
scenes that could have been tossed.
The movie's real point arrives with international criminal Alex Montel,
played by Olivier Martinez with a thick French accent and the same
smoldering intensity he exhibited as the adulterous lover in Unfaithful.
There's more hanky panky dawdling to establish Montel's character as a
nasty killer. But that's just a set up to send Montel behind bars and
give him his parting shot for the TV cameras: "I'll give $100 million to
whoever gets me out of jail!"
Very quickly the movie's tempo picks up as every thug with an AK-47 or a
bazooka in Los Angeles (and this seems to be quite a lot of people)
tries to spring Montel from prison. Soon the violence is playing out
across the city, but it's not much of a stretch to figure out who the
main player in this caper will eventually turn out to be.
Despite occasional bursts of action and a roaring ending, much of
S.W.A.T. jumps between predictable plot points. It's hard to build much
enthusiasm for cardboard characters who are just going through the
motions. That includes Jackson, who's treading water, the usually
incandescent James Todd Smith a.k.a. LL Cool J who has not much to build
upon beyond a magnetic smile and especially Farrell, whose
once-promising career has become mired in loud action flicks.
**1/2
S.W.A.T.
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, James
Todd Smith a.k.a. LL Cool J, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, Brian Van
Holt, Olivier Martinez.
Rated: PG-13, contains violence, profanity, adult themes.
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