S.W.A.T. (2003)

  Plot Summary

After disobeying an order during a robber/hostage situation, Jim Street finds himself dismissed from S.W.A.T., an elite unit of the Los Angeles police force.  Jim Street (Colin Farrell) accepts a demotion in the hope that he will be re-instated, in the future, to the Special Weapons And Tactics unit.  He finds himself cleaning the guns and boots of his former colleagues but he gets his opportunity when veteran captain, Don "Hondo" Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) is assigned to set up a new SWAT team...

Review

The movie is based on a 70's television series and a great opening scene suggests tension, suspense and action.  A bank robbery is in progress, the Los Angeles police surround the building, and with news helicopters hovering, the elite police unit, SWAT, take up their positions.  The camera work is almost "video like" and this captures the panic and danger of the situation and sets a realistic scene.  Unfortunately this scene might be the best in the movie! From there on, the movie fails to hit the right note with regard to suspense or tension and the result is a somewhat unexciting, ordinary cop story full of clichés.

The training scenes in the first half of the movie are badly done and could have been more interesting.  One part showed SWAT members competing against each other but the scene lacks any interest as it wasn't clear who the winner was until it was announced by the trainer.  Movies like The Recruit handled similar scenes much better.

Perhaps worst of all is the dialogue.  While some time is spent on developing the characters, juvenile one-liners and unconvincing dialogue distract from this. The result is that the characters, and the relationship between them, is not very convincing.

The acting is adequate but nobody really shines.  Even Samuel L. Jackson (Changing Lanes, Unbreakable) and Colin Farrell (Intermission, Phone Booth, Minority Report) seem to be going through the motions.  Michelle Rodriguez plays Chris Sanchez the only female SWAT member.  There is the beginning of a relationship between Chris and Jim but there wasn't much "on screen chemistry".

Bottom Line: Dull cop story that doesn't deliver suspense or action.

Reviewed by Niall Quinn, Premier Movie Reviews 2003

Genre: Police Action

Certificate: 15's

Director: Clark Johnson

~ Main Cast ~

Samuel L. Jackson

Colin Farrell

Olivier Martinez

Michelle Rodriquez

Josh Charles

RATING

ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO