I wanted to see this movie, Williamson's debut as a director, because I have long suspected that Williamson once knew how to make an action movie (at least Blaxploitation style) and later got bored and started directing filler.
Well, I was wrong - Williamson was a bad director from the get go.
The problem with most of his films - including this one - is that one has a right to expect action from an action film, even if it has some other comment to make. Williamson's action scenes are invariably dull, routine, cliché, and not very frequent.
When I see a character in an action film pull out a gun, I expect him to shoot something or somebody - not just stand around posing as if just holding a gun was in itself exciting - one might as well hold a broom.
But as in most Williamson-directs-Williamson films, when the gun comes out... he stands and, well... just stands there.
An off-beat Elliot Gould performance slips through - otherwise, noting much here. And Landau is at his worst, which is just what Mr. Williamson wanted from him - what a waste of time! Don't let it waste yours.
Well, I was wrong - Williamson was a bad director from the get go.
The problem with most of his films - including this one - is that one has a right to expect action from an action film, even if it has some other comment to make. Williamson's action scenes are invariably dull, routine, cliché, and not very frequent.
When I see a character in an action film pull out a gun, I expect him to shoot something or somebody - not just stand around posing as if just holding a gun was in itself exciting - one might as well hold a broom.
But as in most Williamson-directs-Williamson films, when the gun comes out... he stands and, well... just stands there.
An off-beat Elliot Gould performance slips through - otherwise, noting much here. And Landau is at his worst, which is just what Mr. Williamson wanted from him - what a waste of time! Don't let it waste yours.