Review of Sudden Impact (1983) by Rameshwar I — 27 Dec 2015

With the Dirty Harry film series remaining a solid collection of action thrillers, Sudden Impact sounded like it would ride the same successful path.

Sudden Impact is the Dirty Harry film that everyone is familiar with yet nobody has ever seen. The film features one of cinema's most iconic lines in screenwriting history when protagonist Harry Callahan targets his enemy at a diner and proclaims "Go ahead. Make my day". Arguably the most iconic thing Clint Eastwood has ever said, this single line is an iconic embodiment of the raw tension that runs through the veins of "Dirty" Harry Callahan. Alas, that is perhaps the single piece of good writing in Sudden Impact.

By this point in the film series, there have been three preceding films to establish Harry Callaghan as a relentless homicide detective who will fearlessly shoot anyone who gets in his way. This means that we have had three preceding films to establish the formula for the series, leaving Sudden Impact to do little but embody it. The limitations for characterization in the films have been established since there is a greater focus on crafting a spectacle of crime and violence, and by the point of Sudden Impact it has all been seen before. The highlights of Sudden Impact come during their action scenes because the film remains a practical spectacle with impressive set pieces and stunts as well as plenty of shootouts which are captured with strong cinematography and edited timely. There are also some powerful sound effects put into play as well which effectively ensure that there is a sense of tension in Sudden Impact. However, the title of the film is really misleading.

There is nothing sudden about any kind of impact that this film has on viewers as there is actually an extensive amount of waiting around the audience has to partake in. Between the admittedly impressive action scenes are simply recycled plot points which hit viewers over the head with information they are already all too aware of. Viewers know that Harry Callahan is a rough cop who plays by his own rules, and yet Sudden Impact insists on reminding us that this nature of behaviour conflicts with his precinct. We get it, he's a badass. There has to be more to the story than that, yet there isn't. Sudden Impact lacks any kind of story innovation whatsoever and doesn't even make an attempt to expand on the depth of its main character, rather going in predictable circles as it attempts to string together an excuse for Clint Eastwood to work with his wife, Sondra Locke. Though neither of them are bereft of natural charms, their actual characters boast nothing synonymous with the word "innovation" since they are both heavily archetypal.

Ultimately, the story in Sudden Impact is a central link to the major faults of the production. Attempting to go in a different direction to the preceding Dirty Harry stories, Sudden Impact goes for a more morally-challenging thriller in which the characters are meant to complicate the viewer's perspective of what is right and wrong in the eyes of the law. This premise is better suited for a film which is not part of an established series of action spectacles, rather a film which focuses more energy on the thriller elements than the action ones. Instead, viewers are left with a character-focused narrative which is actually severely lacking in depth. Neither of the main characters are that interesting, and there is a no sense of war that goes on between them like the kinds of antagonists that Harry Callahan has faced off with in the past. So when Sudden Impact isn't boasting its technical accomplishments, its skimming the surface of a dull story at a slow pace. Moving at a tedious rate back and forth through the stories of the two main characters, Sudden Impact never bothers to try something original with its star power or production budget and instead leaves viewers to simply experience plenty of material that they have already seen before in far superior features. All in all, Sudden Impact is simply an obligatory film more than anything and brings nothing fresh to the table for the legacy of "Dirty" Harry Callahan.

However, with Clint Eastwood back in his iconic role the film is certainly not a complete waste. A natural born warrior, Clint Eastwood brings the iconic brand of vigilante justice and true grit to the role. Sudden Impact capitalizes on his line delivery in the aforementioned iconic line of the series "Go ahead. Make my day" which is delivered with such raw tension, and it is the greatest thing he has said since the "Do I feel lucky?" speech from the first Dirty Harry. Though not emotionless, Clint Eastwood says the line without flinching. And the stare in his eyes is merciless, the cold and relentless stare of a nihilistic product of endless violence. Clint Eastwood's handsome appeal and intense energy keep the spirit of story's hero alive even in the face of so much weak material. Since the film is a routine one all he has to do is go back on what he knows, and there is no denying that he brings back the same essential spirit that made "Dirty" Harry Callahan the iconic action hero that he is recognized across the land for. Clint Eastwood 's role in Sudden Impact ensures that the majority of the film's existence is not completely wasteful, and though there are really no actors who manage to challenge him or stand up to his standard, it just means that he ensures that everything in the film focuses solely around him.

So Sudden Impact brings Clint Eastwood's hard-edged nature back once again and puts him through a collection of technically accomplished action sequences, but beneath all that is little more than a slow burning conventional thriller which uses a shortage of tension and a heavy collection of generic plot points to stretch its limited material beyond any sensible level of running time.