La dernière cible

Although I adore Don Seagle's Dirty Harry, I believe that this one is the silliest movie I have seen with Clint Eastwood in it. Everything in this movie bears the signs of the artificiality of what is called acting, directing, and script writing. I wonder what should be liked or enjoyed in this nonsensical piece of work. Comparing this one with other D. H. movies, one could consider it just like an underrated spaghetti western full of noise and shootings which stands against a classic western within which the sound of a single bullet shot vibrates throughout the whole movie. That's why Callahan's Magnum gives way to a silly weapon at the end of the movie because its overuse has already devalued the Magnum.

Unfortunately, a silly ending for a series that started with the one that turned into a classic.

Jim Carrey and Liam Neeson are interesting enough to see in these fairly minor parts. But the highlight of the film, for me, was the chase scene involving a toy RC car as the pursuing "bad" car. Every cliche of a Hollywood car chase scene is fulfilled to a T, right down to nobody being seriously injured despite massive destruction of property. This alone is worth the price of admission/rental.

In one of the best sequels in the Dirty Harry films, Clint Eastwood returns in the Dead Pool. It is never a dull film, and the action starts right from the beginning. The movie begins when a drug-addicted rock star dies (played zanily by Jim Carrey). When Callahan investigates he discovers a sinister, twisted game called the Dead Pool, and his name is on the list of those expected to die. This is a great movie, and a fun one to watch. And of course, Harry has some memorable quotes; like his one on opinions. Also check out Liam Neeson in this movie as a director.

Dirty Harry still has it. This film has all the mayhem, the violence, the wisecracks, the whole formula. Patricia Clarkson's delicate beauty is a good counterpoint to Eastwood's ruggedness. It was interesting to see actors like Neeson and Carrey paying their dues. When I first saw this film, I didn't realize that the "car chase" scene, running from the toy Corvette, was a spoof of Bullitt, but on viewing this time, I found the homage hilarious. No, this film isn't the equal of "Dirty Harry" but it's not bad at all for a fourth sequel.

While this film was just pure entertainment, at least we got to see Dirty Harry doing what we all wanted to see him do: kick some serious ass. Sure, it seemed a little odd that a 60-year old man would be kicking the buts of guys of half his age, but isn't that what film is for: to escape reality? While this is somewhere in the middle in regards to the series as a whole, one cannot contend with the idea of Harry Callahan being one of the most endearing film characters ever made. A nice send-off to say the least.