S.W.A.T (DVD Screening)

(Spoilers)

Released in 2003 S.W.A.T is now over 10 years old, many action movies and ‘Cop’ style movies have been and gone since but something told me that S.W.A.T would be able to stand the test of time.  The great cast was probably what intrigued me the most and the fact that I had heard several good recommendations, so when I saw it was 50p in the second hand DVD shop this could only result in one thing.

S.W.A.T does have a great cast, probably seeming more impressive now then they may have done back in 2003 but it was great to see Samuel L. Jackson’s character Hondo putting together this team in the film. All the cast perform well and they have good on screen chemistry, however I did expect slightly more but it was by no means a disappointment. The standout performance for me though was Jeremy Renners. He plays S.W.A.T agent Gamble turned rogue and he does so brilliantly. Renner is an actor that I have never been sure of, his role in many recent films has left me unconvinced, this could be due to characters however.  Renner really is the main villain in this movie and he easily overshadows Olivier Martinez character Montel, with a convincing performance.  I would love to see Renner explore more villainous roles in the future because it is here that I think he would excel.

The action throughout S.W.A.T was good, it wasn’t fantastic but it was good. I was thinking as I was watching that this movie wouldn’t be that memorable but it also most definitely was a good one and by no means a flop, however this attitude of mine was changed by the finale. S.W.A.T upped its game with this whole sequence, which features the S.W.A.T team pursuing their targets in a limo, a jet landing on a bridge and a great final showdown between Colin Farrell and Jeremy Renner.  This entire section had good pace, unreal action and utilized each team member really well, as a result elevated S.W.A.T into a higher league when it comes to this genre. More of this throughout could have made it even better, but still any action junkie should be really into S.W.A.T.

BIGGEST FLAW – Possibly underusing Michelle Rodriguez’s character

BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT – Renner as the films villain

Rating – 8.5/10