S.W.A.T.

I want to start this review with an undebatable fact: Samuel L. Jackson RULES. He is one of the things in live that just exudes awesomeness. He makes good things even better, and makes bad things tolerable. He was, in actuality, the only redeeming feature in the new Star Wars trilogy, and those films REALLY needed saving. So, in 2003, when Jackson starred as a police sergeant training up a group of cops to stop an evil French drug-lord, here was a movie you had to see, S.W.A.T.

Directed by Clark Johnson (Boycott, The Sentinel), S.W.A.T unites Jackson with Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, James Renner & Oliver Martinez. As I briefly mentioned, the film deals with Sgt. Hondo (Jackson) putting together a S.W.A.T team consisting of several promising young police officers, who are forced to deal with an international criminal from France, who has been taken into custody. While it's nothing special, it's a solid little film that does nothing to insult it's audience, while doing everything it can to entertain them.

The film opens with a hostage situation in a bank, and the S.W.A.T team are called in to deal with it. 2 of the team, Jim Street (Farrell) and Brain Gamble (Renner) are in a position to resolve the situation, but are told to hold back. Gamble, seeing an opportunity to take out the perpetrators, disobeys the hold, and accidentally shoots one of the hostages. This results in Street being kicked off S.W.A.T. and Gamble losing his job, as well as his respect for Street.

For the next 6 months, Street accepts his new position in the Police Station gun cage. At the same time, Hondo is assigned to put together a new S.W.A.T. team. With Streets help, Hondo recruits Deacon Kaye (Cool J), Chris Sanchez (Rodriguez) and finally convinces Street to rejoin the force. After obtaining 2 more cops, Boxer & McCabe, the new team is complete, and Hondo puts them through their paces.

Meanwhile, Alex Montel (Oliver Martinez), an international druglord, arrives in America, but is quickly apprehended, and found to be a fugitive. When the newly formed S.W.A.T. team are transporting Alex to the police station, he turns to the nearby mob of reporters and announces that he will give $100 million to whoever can break him out of custody. From here, the group are caught in a fight for their lives, as one particularly determined group is keen to take Montel up on his offer.

The movie is, in simple terms, a pretty standard action movie. There's shoot-outs, fist-fights, back-stabbings, explosions and, of course, car chases. Nothing really unique or never-before-seen elements. But with that said, it's easy enough to enjoy. It doesn't try to be flashy or pretentious. The characters are likeable and the action, while fairly cliched, is entertaining. It has it's funny and serious moments. The climax of the breakout is pretty epic, and it ends on a triumphant note. On top all this, it has Samuel L. Jackson in it! Few things make a film feel more epic, and, as ever, he gives a very solid performance. That's really all I can say. If you like action films, it's a pretty decent effort, so give it a shot.