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S.W.A.T.Stale and formulaic, but still an enjoyable flick.S.W.A.T. is a bit of a pointless exercise. It looks and feels like a bunch of other action cop thrillers, doesn't break any new ground, but still creates a (mostly) enjoyable ride. The plot focuses on the selection, training and then first task of a S.W.A.T. team. Naturally there's friction between members of the squad, and a potential love interest. An obvious 'twist' and generally nothing out of the ordinary all combine to make the plot stale and tired. There's nothing new with the characters, either. The stoic boss (Samuel L. Jackson), the rookie who we know will come through in the end (Colin Farrell), the angry female cop (Michelle Rodriguez), and the 'evil' foreigner (Olivier Martinez). Farrell appears to be using most of his energy trying to sound American, and Jackson isn't trying that hard at anything. But for this movie it doesn't really matter. Where it needs to shine is in the action sequences and snappy dialogue. The action sequences are mostly enjoyable, holding the viewer's interest with well timed music and lots of shouting. It does fall down in several places, notably a scene on the roof where the camera pans 360 degrees around a S.W.A.T. team - for no reason. Again, when it takes a bizarre angle and tracks right in on a fight between Street & his partner, it is jarring and does not add to the scene. As for the dialogue, the writer obviously put his brain on auto-pilot. Lines like, "Are you feeling me, Hondo?" are unintentionally laughable. But if you can look past bad dialogue and a boring plot, S.W.A.T. is a good Saturday night movie. They've got eye candy for the guys and the gals, enjoyable action sequences and it does move along at a fairly steady pace. For anyone that wants a thinking action movie, give it a miss. ** out of ***** |
