S.W.A.T. (2003) Movie Information:

S.W.A.T. (2003) Directed by: Clark Johnson S.W.A.T. (2003) Written by: David Ayer, David McKenna, Ron Mita, Jim McClain, Robert Hamner S.W.A.T. (2003) Cast: Samuel Jackson, Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, Josh Charles, Jeremy Renner, Brian Van Holt, Olivier Martinez, Reg Cathey, Larry Poindexter

S.W.A.T. (2003) U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures S.W.A.T. (2003) U.K. Distributor: Sony Pictures

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S.W.A.T. (2003) Synopsis:

Jim Street is a former S.W.A.T. team member, who along with his partner Brian Gamble, is thrown off the team in the aftermath of a controversial decision they made during a robbery/hostage standoff. Gamble quits the force in disgust, but for Street, being a policeman is his life and he agrees to a demotion, hoping to someday have the chance to redeem himself and once again wear the privileged S.W.A.T. uniform. He gets that chance when team commander Dan "Hondo" Harrelson is assigned to recruit and train five top-notch officers for a new Special Weapons and Tactics unit. After weeks of rigorous physical training, the new team is immediately thrown into action when a notorious drug lord, offers a $100 million bounty to anyone who can free him from police custody. As they escort the kingpin out of Los Angeles into the hands of the Feds, the S.W.A.T. team is pursued by a ruthless and well-armed band of mercenaries.

S.W.A.T. (2003) Movie Review:

Inspired by an old television cop show, S.W.A.T. has lots of unbelievable action that's hard to swallow no matter how medicated you are.

The movie stars Samuel L. Jackson as commander Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson who is assigned to recruit and train five elite cops for a new Special Weapons and Tactics Unit.

Making up his team are Jim Street (Colin Farrell), Deacon 'Deke' Kaye (LL Cool J), Chris Sanchez Michelle Rodriguez), Michael Boxer (Brian Van Holt) and T.J. MacCabe (Josh Charles).

They encounter a big problem when they are assigned to transport international drug kingpin and arms dealer Alex Montel (Olivier Martinez) to federal prison.

Since Alex doesn't want to go to jail he tells the press that he will pay $100 million reward to anyone who helps him escape police custody.

That puts almost every criminal on the streets of Los Angeles trying to collect the loot thus creating a big mess for the police.

Intersections turn into war zones full of automatic gunfire and even military equipment such as rocket-propelled grenades are used to try and free Alex.

This is where most of the extremely unrealistic battle scenes take place and diminish the impact of the mayhem presented.

On top of that the main cast seem to be competing with each other to win the prize for the best poser with a 'cool' attitude. Colin especially seems to put extra effort in this department. He also has more tattoos than several biker gangs put together. Isn't nice that the Los Angeles Police Department allows such non-threatening body adornment.

Given that this is a big expensive Hollywood studio movie, the massive quantities of fast flying bullets have been instructed never to hit Samuel or Colin or they will never work in this town again.

Furthermore, the bad guys can kill without a second thought almost anybody in the cast but not the star whom they can only hurt and piss off enough for a big end of movie fight scene.

It doesn't matter if the automatic weapons are at point blank range. They might as well be up the nose of these actors and upon being fired would not dare put a scratch on the stars.

The makers of this film can't seem to grasp the fact that if the audience is given over the top action that is ridiculous and implausible in the slightest, then it becomes an expensive waste of time.

S.W.A.T. is silly with a bit of humor that can't break through from its unconvincing and uninspiring shootout mentality.

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S.W.A.T. (2003) review written by: Gil Benzeevi