S.W.A.T. (2003, VHS)

Like most guys who see an adrenaline rush as a game instead of a potential danger to life, I love anything that has to do with weapons, tactical espionage, and the like. Myself, I love to paintball when I find the time, and while I don t have a 2003 Autococker or a custom 2003 Angel (those who don t know Paintball need not think about what Autocockers and Angels are), I treat my pretty little Custom Spyder TL Plus like a real gun. I ve customized it to my liking, including a scope with a night vision toggle, customized butt to fit my shoulder perfectly, and a silencer. Granted, a paintball gun (or marker) is different than a real gun, but their qualities are ultimately the same, and it s no different when I m out in Paintball arena playing. While I paintball for fun, I move and shoot out in the field like I were on a real S.W.A.T. team. So it was no surprise that when the first trailers for S.W.A.T. showed, I was intrigued. In a summer full of hits and misses, while being a miss for many, S.W.A.T. hit the nail on the head to help fill my summer of excitement.

Plot Analysis
I wasn t even alive when the S.W.A.T. TV show aired on TV from 1975 to 1976, though I remember my dad telling me about it before multiple times while watching an episode of COPS. So, because there was no basis for me to compare off of, my opinion of S.W.A.T. is purely because of how entertained I was through the movie, and that is to say, enough to not even pay attention to my date s multiple attempts to get me to grab her hand. That s a pretty entertaining movie if you ask me, normally I hesitate no more than 2 seconds to holding my date s hand if I see that they re hinting for me to grab it.

The story in S.W.A.T. starts out with a hostage scene, and Bryan Gamble (Jeremy Renner) and his partner Jim Street (Colin Farrell) defy their orders to hold once they gained access inside the building, and while taking out the two hostage holders, injures a hostage in the process. Now I don t know what the government rules are when it comes to what to do and what not to do in tactical situations, but I thought that as long as a civilian was not killed, disobeying orders in order to take out the threat wasn t a big enough deal to be taken off S.W.A.T. team. I guess not, because the civilian, that ungrateful little b*tch she is, sued the city because Bryan had shot her just above the shoulder blade, saving her life from DYING.

Because of this, Bryan and Jim are taken off S.W.A.T. detail. While Jim takes it with respect, Bryan goes rampart throughout the office, and is kicked off the force entirely for assaulting his captain. Jim strikes a deal with his captain, and isn t kicked off the force, since it was Jim s partner that defied the rules, and Jim had to follow his partner s lead. Six months pass, and Jim has been on weaponry detail, fixing weapons and shining boots. For some odd reason, that really isn t explained as any reason for his old school expertise doesn t happen until after he s comprised his S.W.A.T. team, Sgt. Dan Hondo Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) is brought back in from retirement to form a S.W.A.T. team under his command. The cool thing is, Hondo gets to recruit his own team. This is cool for Jim, because he has a second chance at getting back on S.W.A.T., and so along with Chris Sanchez (the beautiful, BEAUTIFUL, Michelle Rodriguez), David Deke Kay (LL Cool J), and TJ McCabe (Josh Charles), he becomes part of the best S.W.A.T. team in the Los Angeles area.

Now, after the first 45 minutes to an hour s worth of movie time, the story of the movie comes into play, which includes ensuring the movement of a kingpin to another jail. Everything starts when the kingpin opens his big mouth to the nosy as always press when he s being escorted into jail, that he ll offer a 100,000,000 dollar reward to anyone that gets him out of jail. With a nasty plot twist within the last half hour or so of the movie, Sgt. Hondo and his S.W.A.T. team get more than they bargain for, and get enough action to last them a life time.

The action in S.W.A.T. isn t quite as explosive as say, Terminator 3, though it packs it s own type of explosive content when it comes to the gun fights. I haven t heard so much gunfire take place at once (real bullets, not the stuff like in T3) since Saving Private Ryan, and in a theater that has an exceptionally better sound system than most theaters, the sound effects exploded from the screen in an enjoyable manner. After hearing people complain about the movie being boring and an overall disappointment, it makes me wonder if they were awake when they watched the movie, or if they saw a different movie, because S.W.A.T. kept me entertained the whole way through. Granted, the way the movie was told wasn t exactly done the best way, as many things weren t clear about why they happened, but other than that minor flaw, S.W.A.T. was one of the more enjoyable movies over the summer.

Character Overview
In my opinion, S.W.A.T. was fueled by three primary characters - Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Farrell, and the beautiful Michelle Rodriguez. It s not one of Jackson s best movies, though it s definitely not bad by all means. Jackson reprises his natural role as a leader, portraying the role of a S.W.A.T. team commander to the best that anyone who isn t a S.W.A.T. leader s attention. Colin Farrell is to S.W.A.T. as Josh Hartnett is to Black Hawk Down. While I hate Hartnett, he was the draw to BHD. I think Colin Farrell is awesome, and he was still an integral part to the movie, no matter what anyone says, he did a good job at his role. And then there s Michelle Rodriguez, who has kept my tongue dangling out and drooling ever since her role in The Fast and the Furious, then Resident Evil, and now she continues her bad (as in to the bone) attitude in S.W.A.T.. She did good, yes, though I was disappointed in the amount of attitude she gave in the movie, which wasn t as much as she usually was. Michelle seemed like she lightened up on the attitude in S.W.A.T..

Overall
Ok, so I can officially say that S.W.A.T. ranks right up there with Pirates of the Caribbean and Terminator 3 as the best movie of the summer, and then some. Some parts of the movie may have seemed forced, but I beg to differ. For the most part, the pacing of the movie is perfect. You aren t drowned with non-stop carnage, but you re not bored with soap opera emptiness when there isn t any action. S.W.A.T. can really be recommended two ways: it s good enough to be seen in the theater, though if you re too busy and don t get around to seeing it in theaters, rent it from the video store. I know I enjoyed it enough that I ll buy it on video first thing. Kind of like The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, which comes out August 26th by the way!

happy viewing