Another one of those no brainer action pics, but with action aplenty, there's hardly any time to take a rest. We have a new hero too. Sam, (wooden actor/Flash Gordon) Jones whose performance here is nothing spectacular either. He is a likable hero though and has a likable presence too, you'll definitely be rooting for this guy. Jones, a Saint Louis cop, is suspended after using excessive force, a.k.a retribution, after his partner's shot. His problems are about to get worse, when his brother, Tony (Cassavettes, yeah, real actors now) is slain and guess how, is something you've gotta see. Tony was merely a patsy, an innocent led sort of character, that Nick plays well. He was working with some bad guys, the boss, his front, a restaurant, is involving in making big bucks off selling, yes platonium, this time to a crazed colonel (Bill Mckinney who we meet near the end). Our boss, Simon Stone, doesn't care who has to be wasted either, including his sexy lawyer, Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty), who teams up with Jones, when they start to become the hunted. Frank, a Mick Jagger talking sort of guy, with looks to match too, though this guy is easily better looking, (music and it's affect on people, huh?) is Stone's protector, where him and his henchman take out a partner and an entire mob, including some sunbathing beauties, when this deal go sour in a scene of gunfire that's spectacularly cool. This flick, with it's servings fire and blasting rockets, is one of those dumber than dumber action flicks, where the script sounds as though it was made up as it went along. Two stupid bits I'll mention, is when Jones and Williams are running from the baddies in his office, where Jones is about to use the fire escape, she options to use the elevator, and she's hardly that scared either. Another stupid bit, Jones uses a condom as a slingshot where he launches a bullet from it that hits Frank in the side of the neck. The acting too is pretty standard. If you rule out Cassavettes, 21 Jump Street's Steven Williams gives the strongest performance as a no nonsense L.A Lieutenant, who of course at first clashes with Jones. And for what it was worth, Mckinney's short screen time was good too. How Williams and Jones, kept avoiding all the gunfire and rockets that could of killed them ten times over, is another of those "beyond me's", but this one's almost beyond brains. At least the film never dulls, and keeps you on your eyes. William's opening scene in the restaurant, is tasty, when sitting next to Stone (John Russell) who keeps groping her leg, as she has to keep pushing it away. It's also great to see Jones get drunk here, then making an avenging arse of himself, in front of Stone and company.
Review of Under the Gun
Under the Gun
(1987)
lots of gunfire, rockets, and Sam Jones in a film, that's under par
20 January 2013