S.W.A.T. (***):
When I saw the trailer for this, I thought it looked pretty dumb, and didn't really want to see it. But, after it did so good at the box office this past weekend, I decided to give it a chance. It was worth it. This was a fun movie. In fact, I'd even go so far as to say that this was almost as fun as 'The Italian Job,' which is another movie I thought would suck, but ended up liking it. Sure, the plot isn't complicated, and most of it is mindless, but it's better than some of the movies that I've seen, and it's a badass flick. What I really liked is that these characters have more depth than most do in action movies like these. We get glimpses into their outside lives, which most movies don't do. One other thing...a lot of scenes reminded me (and Mario) of a video game, mainly Splinter Cell...haha.
As I said before, the plot's not so great, but the movie makes up for it with it's style, action sequences, and acting. First up, the style. This movie's pretty flashy, and there were a lot of great shots. There were some slick camera angles, and a lot of the close-ups helped give it a more realistic feel. It did feel like a bunch of scenes cut off too soon, like there was an extra minute or two missing. The editing may have been a bit off, but that's the only complaint I have about that. The action sequences pleased me (although nothing's matched the freeway sequence in 'The Matrix Reloaded'), and a lot of them were pretty interesting. The training sequences were pretty sweet (all about the scene in the airplane), and the whole beginning was a nice way to set things up. Some of it was a bit far-fetched, but I was into the movie enough to where I could just shrug it off. Now, the acting was great all around. Colin Farrell turned in a pretty good performance, using an American accent yet again (he can do that pretty damn good!). Michelle Rodriguez proves once again that she's one tough chick, and Samuel L. Jackson has the usual badass role. The supporting cast was good, with the villain being more than just some stupid guy who wants to take over the world, as is custom with so many action movies today...haha.
So, this was a good, fun movie. It's 2 hours worth of excitement at the movies. I'm glad this movie didn't suck, because it would've been $7.25 down the drain. I recommend this, otherwise I wouldn't have spent all this time telling you good stuff about it. I guess this is one of those many times where I expect nothing, and get a lot more than I bargained for. It's a well-made, slick, fun action flick. You ought to check it out, especially if you have nothing else to do...It's worth it. One of the cooler action films of 2003...
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