This film has all the classic elements of a Clint Eastwood Dirty Harry film: Renegade loner cop of few words working outside the system, a psychotic bad guy, a partner that gets shot and a big, BIG gun!
In fact, it would not surprise me at all to learn that this film was originally planned as a Dirty Harry project but due to Eastwood's age and a similar plot element as a previous Dirty Harry film (evil cult), it may have simply been rewritten to suit a younger and even more "Over the Top" cop, Sly Stallone. Even the opening sequence featuring a pistol shooting at the viewer after some haunting narration is almost exactly like the opening sequence of Magnum Force (I believe).
While the motivation for the "bad guys" is not very well explained or explored, they seem to be everywhere and highly dedicated to their cause which is apparently ushering in a "new world order" which also isn't very well explained. For all the blood that gets spilled in this movie, I would have liked to have had a bit more background into why all these people feel obligated to murder all the time for no reason... but maybe that's what makes them so bad. Evil doesn't particularly need a reason or an excuse to be evil.
The action scenes are great as expected and the plot and other characters really only serve to justify the Rambo-with-a-badge moments (same director as Rambo). The movie boasts one of the best cars and car-chases ever filmed which is probably the highlight of the movie now that I think of it.
Stallone (Cobra) attempts a few Dirty Harry-like one liners that come off a little forced and flat with dialog that is tough one second and awkwardly compassionate the next. But don't watch this movie for the snappy dialog or great acting... get it for the action scenes and for the underlying message which is: "Some people need to be dealt with harshly because they are pure evil and do not deserve their day in court."
If this WERE a Dirty Harry film, I would say it is better than Dead Pool but not as good as any of the others. A decent-enough film for anyone who vicariously enjoys seeing satanic Marxist cults get destroyed with cool weaponry boasting bottomless ammo magazines.
In fact, it would not surprise me at all to learn that this film was originally planned as a Dirty Harry project but due to Eastwood's age and a similar plot element as a previous Dirty Harry film (evil cult), it may have simply been rewritten to suit a younger and even more "Over the Top" cop, Sly Stallone. Even the opening sequence featuring a pistol shooting at the viewer after some haunting narration is almost exactly like the opening sequence of Magnum Force (I believe).
While the motivation for the "bad guys" is not very well explained or explored, they seem to be everywhere and highly dedicated to their cause which is apparently ushering in a "new world order" which also isn't very well explained. For all the blood that gets spilled in this movie, I would have liked to have had a bit more background into why all these people feel obligated to murder all the time for no reason... but maybe that's what makes them so bad. Evil doesn't particularly need a reason or an excuse to be evil.
The action scenes are great as expected and the plot and other characters really only serve to justify the Rambo-with-a-badge moments (same director as Rambo). The movie boasts one of the best cars and car-chases ever filmed which is probably the highlight of the movie now that I think of it.
Stallone (Cobra) attempts a few Dirty Harry-like one liners that come off a little forced and flat with dialog that is tough one second and awkwardly compassionate the next. But don't watch this movie for the snappy dialog or great acting... get it for the action scenes and for the underlying message which is: "Some people need to be dealt with harshly because they are pure evil and do not deserve their day in court."
If this WERE a Dirty Harry film, I would say it is better than Dead Pool but not as good as any of the others. A decent-enough film for anyone who vicariously enjoys seeing satanic Marxist cults get destroyed with cool weaponry boasting bottomless ammo magazines.