‘S.W.A.T.’ swaggers and succeeds

Lt. Dan “Hondo” Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson), former hero of the Los

Angeles Police Department’s Special Weapons and Tactics squad, is

brought back on board to assemble a new team that can improve the

LAPD’s diminished reputation in “S.W.A.T.”

Selecting the best S.W.A.T. officers, he trains them and prepares

them for real-world scenarios. After the team has been developed a

crisis coincidently emerges.

An international fugitive (Olivier Martinez) publicly declares he

will pay $100 million to anyone that frees him while he’s being

transported into federal custody. Many people with no love for the

police act on this offer and create pandemonium. The film also

features: Colin Farrell, Michelle Rodriguez, LL Cool J, Josh Charles,

Jeremy Renner and Brian Van Holt.

Veteran TV director and actor Clark Johnson takes what could be

another formulaic TV adaptation and turns it into a taut action

thriller full of bluster, noise and intrigue.

Colin Farrell reprises the role played by Robert Urich in the TV

series from 1975 to 1976. “S.W.A.T.” was controversial for it’s time

due to the amount of violence portrayed. It was a spin-off of a

popular cop drama of called “the Rookies.”

Johnson makes use of the films grain, giving the texture of the

film more of a gritty realistic feel. The sounds are crisp and

convincing. The script leaves it to the actors to add dimension to

their characters.

Unfortunately generic script with no depth by screenwriters David

Ayer (“Training Day,” “Dark Blue”) and David McKenna (“Blow,”

“American History X”) leave Farrell with not much to work with, but

he pulls off some memorable sequences of dialogue-free acting using

his eyes and facial gestures to emote.

Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, Michelle Rodriguez and the other

supporting actors demonstrate good partnering chemistry, and just

when you think you have a handle on what is going on, Johnson shocks

you with some dark, surprising act of violence.

The director wisely keeps the stunts realistic and the characters

human, even fallible. I’d recommend this film to anyone interested in

a good action yarn with a bit of a twist, though it may be too noisy

and academically lame for some.

* RAY BUFFER, 33, is a professional singer, actor and voice-over

artist.