The Dead Pool is set in San Francisco where crime-boss Lou Janero (Anthony Charnota) has put a hit out on Inspector 'Dirty' Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood), while dodging attempts on his life & with his new partner Inspector Quan (Evan C. Kim) Harry has to investigate the death of rock star Johnny Squares (Jim Carrey) when he is discovered dead in his trailer on the set of a horror film. With help from a local new reporter Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson) Harry discovers the existence of a dead pool, a list of celebrities which horror film director Peter Swan (Liam Neeson) & some of his friends bet on who will die before a certain date. It quickly transpires that someone is systematically going through Peter's list & killing the celebrities off one-by-one & Harry learns that his name is on the list which makes him a potential victim...
Directed by Buddy Van Horn this was the fifth & to date final Dirty Harry film, I haven't seen all of them as yet but I thought The Dead Pool was a pretty good if unspectacular 80's tough cop thriller. The script by Steve Sharon is alright, it has a fairly good story that tries something different for the genre although one has to say I felt it had more potential than it ultimately delivered. The idea of a dead pool lottery style bet about celebrities dying could have made for a great film but here the idea is underdeveloped, it's never revealed what the point of the dead pool is in the first place. I mean it's seemingly nothing more than a silly bet between a horror director & a few of his friends, it's never revealed what the actual prize was meant to be or just how seriously those involved took it & it gets forgotten as the number of murder victims grow. What I'm trying to say is that I never felt there was sufficient reason behind the killings & the climax which reveals it was the work of a lone psychotic was somewhat underwhelming. The Dead Pool also tries to say something relevant about media coverage of crimes & cops, this is quite well handled & the point is made effectively enough. The makers could have had a lot of fun with the dead pool & turned this into a gripping thriller, as it is it's a decent action thriller that passes the time but ultimately doesn't live long in the memory once it's over.
Director Van Horn does alright, it moves along at a decent pace, there's some good action scenes & shoot-outs along with an imaginative car chase in which Dirty Harry is chased across San Francisco by a remote controlled car packed with explosives! Harry himself is still a great character & he has everything it took to be an action hero back in the 80's, the utter & total contempt for authority, the droll one-liners & the need to use excessive & deadly force at all times which he also had during the 70's of course. He has it all, he's maybe a bit old but he still holds his own as he blows bad guy's away left, right & center. There's some violence & a bit of blood which helps things along nicely.
Technically the film is good, it has that solid Hollywood big budget feel to it & it's well made especially the car chase. Shot on location in San Francisco despite, according to the IMDb, the cities residents (people with obviously too much time on their hands) protesting that 'Dirty' Harry Callahan would be a bad character to represent the city! The acting is OK, there are early roles for Liam Neeson & Jim Carrey while the members of Guns N'Roses appear as extras at the funeral of Johnny Squares.
The Dead Pool is a solid action thriller, it's not the best one ever made but it's far from the worst. Dirty Harry fans should like it & general action fans should too, worth a watch if nothing else. This was a sequel to Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976) & Sudden Impact (1983).
Directed by Buddy Van Horn this was the fifth & to date final Dirty Harry film, I haven't seen all of them as yet but I thought The Dead Pool was a pretty good if unspectacular 80's tough cop thriller. The script by Steve Sharon is alright, it has a fairly good story that tries something different for the genre although one has to say I felt it had more potential than it ultimately delivered. The idea of a dead pool lottery style bet about celebrities dying could have made for a great film but here the idea is underdeveloped, it's never revealed what the point of the dead pool is in the first place. I mean it's seemingly nothing more than a silly bet between a horror director & a few of his friends, it's never revealed what the actual prize was meant to be or just how seriously those involved took it & it gets forgotten as the number of murder victims grow. What I'm trying to say is that I never felt there was sufficient reason behind the killings & the climax which reveals it was the work of a lone psychotic was somewhat underwhelming. The Dead Pool also tries to say something relevant about media coverage of crimes & cops, this is quite well handled & the point is made effectively enough. The makers could have had a lot of fun with the dead pool & turned this into a gripping thriller, as it is it's a decent action thriller that passes the time but ultimately doesn't live long in the memory once it's over.
Director Van Horn does alright, it moves along at a decent pace, there's some good action scenes & shoot-outs along with an imaginative car chase in which Dirty Harry is chased across San Francisco by a remote controlled car packed with explosives! Harry himself is still a great character & he has everything it took to be an action hero back in the 80's, the utter & total contempt for authority, the droll one-liners & the need to use excessive & deadly force at all times which he also had during the 70's of course. He has it all, he's maybe a bit old but he still holds his own as he blows bad guy's away left, right & center. There's some violence & a bit of blood which helps things along nicely.
Technically the film is good, it has that solid Hollywood big budget feel to it & it's well made especially the car chase. Shot on location in San Francisco despite, according to the IMDb, the cities residents (people with obviously too much time on their hands) protesting that 'Dirty' Harry Callahan would be a bad character to represent the city! The acting is OK, there are early roles for Liam Neeson & Jim Carrey while the members of Guns N'Roses appear as extras at the funeral of Johnny Squares.
The Dead Pool is a solid action thriller, it's not the best one ever made but it's far from the worst. Dirty Harry fans should like it & general action fans should too, worth a watch if nothing else. This was a sequel to Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976) & Sudden Impact (1983).