Review of Demolition Man (1993) by Harry W — 04 Mar 2014

It took me watching Demolition Man 3 times before I found that I could truly appreciate it, but each time it proved entertaining and I found that it essentially just got better with time.

The first time I watched Demolition Man I found myself confused at some of the story elements and I found that I was constantly asking questions which didn't get answered until significantly later on in the film, and that threw off the whole experience for me. I also found that some of the satirical elements were a little overboard in parts so I didn't find that it was as much of a serious film as I had hoped and more of a parody at times. Of course by that point I hadn't learned just what satire was so it all felt weird. It wasn't until the second and third viewings of Demolition Man that I found it to be as great as it is.

The real fact is that Demolition Man is both a great science fiction action film and an entertaining satire of the concept of a utopian future. As a science fiction film, it creates an interesting though-provoking future for viewers to consider and reveals the real negative elements of a utopia. And the story is a cleverly crafted and original one which combines serious science fiction drama with a lot of clever satirical elements so that the film succeeds as both a legitimate science fiction action film and a parody of one. Thanks to the directional effort of Marco Brambilla in his directional debut, the story is handled very well and comes out good looking.

The story is an original concept and paves the way for a lot of potential as a science fiction action film, and it succeeds at that without a doubt thanks to a good quantity of action which is well paced and choreographed very well. And thanks to terrific cinematography and perfectly timed editing, the action is packed with plenty of visual appeal.

The entire film is packed with visual appeal due to a terrific production design and colourful range of costumes which creates a universe similar to the one in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element without going overboard into ridiculous territory. The universe of the film is very original and intelligent and it looks perfect, making Demolition Man an unforgettable visual experience. It's a very stylish feature and has a broad colour palette which lights up the screen.

And its very cleverly written. The story is an original concept which is capitalised on, and the script is loaded with a lot of cleverly placed jokes. Some are hit and miss, and occasionally some of them go satirically overboard and almost descend into spoof film territory, but more of the time they prove successful and provide a lot of strength for the actors to work with. The acting never fails in Demolition Man, and even Rob Schneider's cameo was good.

Sylvester Stallone is put into an interesting role in Demolition Man because he is essentially portraying a the type of figure that everybody sees him as: a demolition man; A man of nothing but violence. Yet in Demolition Man he proves to take that and work with it, creating an awesome character out of it named John Spartan. John Spartan is both the real Sylvester Stallone and the action hero Sly Stallone combined into one, because he gives a performance which is ripe with the fierce dedication of an action hero and an underlying true sense of emotion which allows him to rise above the one-dimensional attitude that many of his other action film characters such as Marion "Cobra" Cobretti have fallen into. He has a terrific chemistry with his co-stars which provides both compelling drama and a lot of fresh comedy, so Sylvester Stallone is at one of his best action movie performances in Demolition Man, and it is undeniable. Demolition Man features one of the characters that Sylvester Stallone should be more remembered for.

Wesley Snipes gives one of the best performances of his career as Simon Phoenix. The character Simon Phoenix is so clearly a comic book character due to his cartoon style appearance and excessively sadistic and violent nature. And Wesley Snipes gives it his all which causes him to nail the part flawlessly. He has the energy of a hilarious villain, and his delivery of lines is great, particularly when his lines are the hilarious one-liners that have been written for him. He has a kinetic energy which is undeniably appealing, and his chemistry with Sylvester Stallone is both intense and hilarious. They make an exceptional team of hero and villain in Demolition Man, and his performance is an unforgettable one which combines antagonising villainousness with fierce hilarity.

Sandra Bullock provides her amiable charm in one of her much more significantly earlier roles in Demolition Man. As today she is one of the most successful lead actresses in cinema, it is good to look back at her from so long ago and enjoy her dedicated effort to a blockbuster science fiction action film. Her character is a strange one as she is the friendly but somewhat senseless female police officer from a senseless society, but she works the role perfectly and shows off the charisma of both a comedic star and an action hero. She has a smile that just lights up the screen and a real sense of friendliness which makes her a genial presence. And overall, her line delivery is full of confidence. Sandra Bullock's performance is a terrific one.

Nigel Hawthorne gave a consistently dedicated supporting performance, and Dennis Leary's small role was one he took and worked well with. Jack Black's cameo was also a nice touch.

So all in all, Demolition Man is an impressively clever science fiction action movie with a lot of originality and dedicated actors to ensure that it succeeds in every area and overshadows some of the excess in its satirical elements at times.