Review of S.W.A.T.: Firefight (2011) by Christopher S — 12 Aug 2011

Straight to Video releases usually don't have much to offer, even if they are promoted as the sequel or follow-up to an original theatrical release. S.W.A.T.- FireFight being a sequel to the Much better and Much more exciting S.W.A.T. Film based on the 1970s television series of the same name. S.W.A.T. 2 Directed by veteran music video director Benny Boom, which you'll figure out for yourself 25 minutes into the film since he shot the movie much like of of his many music videos. From the blaring intro music every time a new character shows up, slow motion shots and various point of view camera angles, you'll be waiting for the backup dancers to join the cast. Anyhow, The Original starred Colin Farrell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner and LL Cool J. This film doesn't possess nearly as much star power besides 2 Terminators in Robert Patrick (T2) and Kristanna Loken (T3), Loken is only in the film for a total of 5 to 8 minutes anyhow. The star of the film is a fella by the name of Gabriel Macht who has had bit parts in a bunch of films until playing the lead in Frank Miller's "Spirit" which was a critical dud.

As for the Movie itself?....I'll describe it like a coin - it has two sides.

The first side is the acting - for the most part, The acting wasn't bad at all...Matter of fact, I found the acting to be very good. The characters are believable and the actors seem suited for their respective roles. I must admit that I watched this movie mainly because of the franchise. I'm a big fan of the original movie and the television series and even though I knew this film would be no where near as good, I figured why not take a chance since it did have some familiar names. Robert Patrick being one of them. Gabriel Macht, another and it was nice to see Kristanna Loken even in a minor role. Gabriel Macht was probably good in his role and felt he did as good as he possibly could do with what was in front of him. Robert Patrick was ok, He usually brings his A-game to every role he's in. Kristanna Loken was barely in the film but like I said it was nice to see her, even if it was nothing more then a few minutes of total screen time. The rest of the cast was filled with newcomers and no one really stood out except for Shannon Kane who played the "Michelle Rodriguez Character" as the resident hot S.W.A.T. Team member. Nicholas Gonzalez was ok as the "hot headed S.W.A.T. Team member, but played his role rather cliche and generic for my taste. Veteren type casted actor Giancarlo Esposito was solid as well. Basically, The strong side of this movie are the actors and the characters - I like movies, that make me sympathize with characters, one way or another, in a positive or negative note. If you evaluate the actors' performance based on the first SWAT movie with Collin Farrel and Samuel Jackson, you might be a little disappointed, but if you watch it as a stand-alone, you might like it.

Now for the things I didn't like. The flip-side of this coin maybe some of you won't describe as something bad, but I personally am getting a little tired of a trend in recent action movies - sloppy endings. Some may say "this is an action movie, just watch the action and don't think too much for the ending!" But I like endings that make me smile and think to myself "yes, that was good!". In this particular movie, the ending is not only sloppy, but it just one more word - short. I fully agree with some other reviews that point out that maybe due to time restrictions the movie was cut short, but unfortunately the part that suffers the most is the ending. There are a few scenes throughout the movie that are just seen so many times and maybe if they were cut in order to add up a few minutes to the ending, the movie would have been better.

One other thing is the pace. The story unfolds pretty quickly, but the actual pace of the on-screen events is a little slow. Not that I find the latter as a flaw, but it kind of builds your thrill, I personally was expecting a grand finale that would blow me away. A final showdown so to speak. Like De Niro and Pacino in "Heat". Maybe I'm too much of a yin-yang person, but I just would like to see something more of a clash of the titans endings in movies (literally, not like the movie by the same name). It doesn't matter if it is a happy ending or not, the thing that matters is HOW it is presented to us viewers. It may sound a little harsh, but I really felt robbed by this ending.

And something else - I really feel Robert Patrick's character was presented too shallow. He has too little screen time to convince the audience he really is the bad guy, which is a big flaw of the script in my opinion. Patrick is a very, very, very underrated actor, especially when he plays bad guys and this movie does't utilize his talent whatsoever.

Don't get me wrong, this movie is worth a look, if you like the genre (police, SWAT team action movies, hostages, tactics), you'll probably enjoy it. But it just isn't something you will remember. If you're looking for something unusual, something that spans out of the box, of the "same ol' same ol', you may be a little disappointed like I was. This is just an ordinary movie. It could have been better, but it isn't.