Review of S.W.A.T. (2003) by Mickey M — 27 Jul 2008

Based on the mid-1970's American TV series, "S.W.A.T." continues the tradition of poor big screen remakes of classic television programs.

Samuel L. Jackson plays "Hondo," a veteran Los Angeles police officer who puts together a young SWAT Team who must protect a dangerous criminal (Olivier Martinez) who is wanted in a dozen countries. This criminal offers a whopping $100-million to anybody who can spring him from jail.

The first big problem is that this movie takes way too long to establish the main characters in the SWAT Team. It also waits until the movie is near the half-way point to start the main plot of protecting the criminal.

Another problem with the movie is that they only tease you with the SWAT Team members forming a relationship and trust needed for such a career. They really tease the starts of an off-duty relationship between the characters portrayed by Colin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez, but nothing leads to any resemblance to a romance, if that is what the script writer intended for the two.

You really don't get a feel for the characters. At a couple points, at least two of the SWAT Team members get killed, but you don't feel attached enough to them to care when they are.

They show a lot of Farrell's character's life off-duty, but they don't give much of a history from before when the movie joins his life to understand what it has to do with the overall character.

This movie was recommended to me by Yahoo Movie's Personalized Recommendations feature, and I recommend that you only see it if you are desperate to see a movie.