.. title: Late Movie Review: S.W.A.T. .. slug: P119 .. date: 2003/12/20 13:22 .. tags: movies .. category: .. link: .. description: .. type: text .. author: .. en: .. priority: .. updated: 2003/12/20 13:22 .. url_type: To escape the heat of the afternoon, I dived into a movie theater downtown, and the movie I hadn't seen was this. I am a fan of Samuel L. Jackson. I think his role in Pulp Fiction is incredible. I think his screen presence (and a little acting) makes his characters interesting and intense, and larger than life, which is a good thing in many movies. But why, please, is he trapped inside of a fascist fantasy movie? In this movie, 4 policemen and a prisoner (who is described as evil, sure) are in a car, and because of something he says, just a nod from one of the policemen prompts the other to hit the prisoner. Who is cuffed, BTW. Ok, so that is a felony comitted by one of the "good guys", with acquiescense from another. It is also, of course, a cowardly action, and think about it: just a nod, and whack. That shows habit, so the subtext is apparently that these nice guys, members of "the most respected police force in the world", routinely hit defenseless prisoners. Yup, those are the *heros* in this movie. But let's put aside the obviously rotten ideology this movie represents, where it's ok for a character, just because he is labeled as "good", to break the law without consequences, and without even suggesting that such a thing may be, you know, not the best thing to do. Let's talk about cinema. This is the kind of movie where two characters of similar height and build fight, in a dark railroad set, backlit. For minutes, they punch, and kick, and throw themselves at each other. And it's phisically impossible to see who the hell is beating the other, because you can't tell them apart. That's lazy filmmaking, and it shows this morally bankrupt movie is not even well done garbage. At least Leni Riefenstahl's movies are allegedly beautiful to look at. What's the excuse for this one?