Sanction fatale

See! Kristy Swanson's career go down the drain right before your very eyes.

Witness! Michael Madsen look tough and say tough things.

Watch! A movie eerily reminiscent of every other direct-to-video release in the last decade.

Behold! The horrible travesty that is 'Supreme Sanction'.

Give this one a pass, there's nothing of any interest here.

2/10

I saw this film in the TV guide and decided to give it a go, since it had Kristy Swanson. Anyway seeing her as an government assassin was new. The opening credits were encouraging, but then my expectations went down the drain as soon as the shooting started. Swanson does not look in anyway like a hitwoman, the 'action' scenes are laughable. The reporter she is supposed to be protecting look s bored most of the time. Michael Madsen is such a over-rated actor, it occurred to me that he plays the exact same character in every movie. The attempts at humour are so bad that they're funny, the best lines go to Swanson's sidekick. Ron Pearlman is wasted as the big boss, and dies cheaply. In one scene the reporter has been interrogated (Tortured) by Madsen's people, but when we see him afterwards he doesn't have a mark on him!!!

I love Kristy Swanson movies. She's a beautiful, compelling actress and deserves better than this; but, as always, she does a super job. I do think the director made her character a little to terse and mean, even though the plot called for it. Had he allowed Kristy some margin of sensuality and vulnerability, she would have rounded out her character and added another level to the film. Kristy is athletic and projects herself powerfully. I don't think any actress can equal her in action roles. She can do anything, but she is quite adept at handling physical, aggressive characters. She's believable, and always fun to watch.

In Supreme Sanction, Kristy plays a reluctant assassin, who rebels, and is then pursued by her top secret government employers. Michael Madsen, a super actor, is her chief antagonist. She allies herself with her intended target and her computer-genius friend, and they seek to expose the "Agency" and save the target's little daughter.

Supreme Sanction is a rather marginal action film with limited atmosphere. After some initial action it bogs down for a while, until the mildly wild climax. But Kristy, and Michael Madsen make it worthwhile. They play well off each other. The director goes a little overboard trying to let us know how mean and incorrigible Madsen's character is. I got the point well before he was satisfied. There are plenty of holes in the plot, so watch this one for the actors; and Kristy's brief disguise as a hooker.

Supreme Sanction is a movie about a female assassin who works for the U.S. government. She has to kill a known TV reporter, but spares his life when she sees that he has a little daughter. Because she hasn't killed him, she becomes the next target of her employers.

The script isn't good although I've seen worse B-movies. A hit-man with remorse, the government killing innocent people in the name of fighting terror,... What's next? Aliens rescuing the victim??? No, Supreme Sanction will never win any award because of the script. And the acting isn't any better I'm afraid. A few better known actors (Michael Madsen and Kristy Swanson), who clearly had a lot of bills to pay and therefor accepted to play in this movie, together with some other actors who probably don't even know what a camera really looks like don't do any good to the movie either.

So why should you watch this movie? Well, if you haven't got anything better to do but to watch some action flick and you are tired of the 10,531st rerun of Mc Gyver or the A-team, than this might be the movie you want to see. Otherwise you better leave it alone. I give it a 3/10.

In my mind Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Donnie Brasco) is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. He has given some great performances (watch him out-act all of the talented actors in Reservoir Dogs). But he hasn't gotten as much respect as he deserves because besides some big movies (Donnie Brasco, Free Willy 1 and 2, The Getaway, Thelma and Louise) he has appeared in more low-budget, small, often direct-to-video films. Once again Madsen appears in a small film, this time debuting on HBO. The story line is similar to the much superior (though average) film The Replacement Killers. Kristy Swanson (8 Heads in a Duffel Bag, The Chase) plays a government assassin who refuses to kill a famous reporter because she sees him with his kid. Because she does this, her government agency orders Madsen and friends to kill her. This starts off some boring action scenes. Swanson though a talented actress in unconvincing as a professional assassin. The other actors are average at best. Once again, Michael Madsen saves the day. If it wasn't for Madsen's strong presence this film would be horrible not just below-average. The film would have been a lot better had Madsen received more screen time. Recommended only for Madsen's performance.