‘S.W.A.T.’ Movie Review (2003)

Samuel L. Jackson has been brought back for yet another chance at a remake of a popular 70s TV show. His last attempt was a moderate success as he played Shaft, so how would he do this time with a stellar cast to help out.

Dan “Hondo” Harrelson (Jackson) is asked back into the LAPD and has been assigned the duty of forming a new Special Weapons and Tactics unit (S.W.A.T.) to try and keep the top cops in L.A. as many of them have been leaving for other areas.

The members of the new team recruited by Hondo are Jim Street (Farrell), Deacon “Deke” Kaye (James Todd Smith aka LL Cool J), Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez), Michael Boxer (Brian Van Holt) and T.J. McCabe (Josh Charles).

So, once the team is selected they must begin their training where they must perform at the top of their game just to impress their hard ass Captain Fuller (Larry Poindexter).

Then the fun begins notorious drug lord Alex Montel (Martinez) is brought into police custody and he offers up a $100 million reward for anyone that can break him out of jail. The bottom then falls out of this flick.

The training lead-in is classic, but it fails when the story cannot build or keep up with what has already happened. The climax of the movie seems to be when the team passes their training exam and the rest is just a thorn in their side.

The movie being called S.W.A.T. leads the audience to believe that some special weapons and tactics may be used, but all we are left with is the cops chasing the bad guys, and lucky enough the cops have really good aim.

The acting is great, but this story falls short in the script. If you are looking for a so-so action flick then drop by and check this one out, otherwise there is always the DVD counter.

GRADE: C+
Movie News
Marvel and DC
X