Tango y Cash

Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell play polar opposite Los Angeles cops who are framed by an arch nemesis and forced to team up in order to clear their name.

Unashamedly macho and very much of its time, this is daft energetic fun that's full of octane inventive action and ever quotable one liners. Stallone is Tango, the smart dressed sophisticated policeman, Russel is Cash, the slobbish act first - ask questions later copper, both men very different but both excellent at their jobs.

Pic gets by mostly on the chemistry between Stallone and Russell, who put much zest into their respective characters bickering and bantering. Action is well put together by director Andrey Konchalovskiy, but unfortunately the final third of the piece starts to sag as our mismatched cops start to respect and befriend each other and the plot reaches the inevitable conclusion.

It doesn't help matters that Jack Palance's main villain is only a bit part player, or that his head henchman Requin (the usually ace Brion James) gives us a quite appalling British accent. Add in Teri Hatcher who is in it purely for dressage and as a cypher between the two boys, then it's a picture not without problems. Yet the script and star turns from the leading duo ensure this remains a favourite of many whom lapped it up back in the backend of the 1980s. 7/10

The #1 reason why I love brainless action movies from the 80s and 90s? Because of the actors playing the bad guys! Just look at this baby; - Jack Palance, Brion James, Robert Z'dar, Clint Howard... Sure enough, the stars of the film are Sly Stallone and Kurt Russell, but for people who always root for the villains - like me - films like "Tango & Cash" are delightful! The set-up for this buddy-action movie is that the two best cops of Los Angeles are framed by big-shot drug/weapon dealer Palance, and end up in prison amidst the vengeful cons they locked away themselves. Plausibility and coherence are of minor importance, but "Tango & Cash" works perfectly because both Stallone and Russell prove themselves to be masters of self-parody, and the chemistry between them is awesome. Good stunt work, James Bond like gadgetry and an incredibly sexy Yazoo-dance by Teri Hatcher only make the film even more amusing.

On the surface, "Tango and Cash" has got to be the most ridiculous buddy cop movie on the market. And I'm still trying to decide if this is honest-to-god satire or just an extremely calculated kitchen sink attempt at a genre movie. This thing's just one glib one-liner after another, and they are all extremely on the nose. Is there subtlety in this? Hell no, but it is entertaining. And there are moments that had me in genuine laughter.

And I do say that that's all down to the two leads. Stallone and Russell are what make this work. You can tell they didn't come to set every day hating their work, that it's all just a gas, and that's what keeps the movie light and easy on its feet. That, and in-her-prime Teri Hatcher.

It's loud, extremely silly, but still a lot of fun.

7/10

The only reason this film is worth watching, is named Sylvester Stallion and Kurt Russell. The movie is an average, Cop fighting bad guy film; nothing special. But the chemistry and humor between Sylvester and Kurt was extremely entertaining to see. They work great together adding so much humor and fun to the show as they flex their beautiful muscles and fight off the bad guys.

Okay, so this isn't the greatest film ever made. In fact, it isn't even remotely the best buddy-buddy flick ever made. But surprisingly enough, this is actually quite a winner, and succeeds far more in being a parody of the Lethal-Weapon style films than say... Loaded Weapon does. This is for several reasons.

Firstly, Stallone is the star of the show here, turning in a self-mocking parody of his own screen persona. He is flash and indestructable, yet the film acknowledges and exploits this to comedic ends. Secondly, Palance is excellent as a sneering and menacing bad guy, plotting the two cops downfall. He deserved more screen time than he actually got, and actually did a good job of being the obligatory stereotypical bad-guy.

However, the best thing of all about this film is the snappy dialogue. There is so much good banter between the two-cops that no matter how bizarre the film's scenario's get, the dialogue rescues it.

The first time I saw this, I enjoyed it and was only really let down by the ending, which feels hollow and unsatisfying in comparison to the first two reels of the film. However, this nagging problem alone, I have no hesitation in recommending this to any fan of the action-genre.

Overall: 6 1/2 out of 10.