The Sweeper

The very sadly missed PM Entertainment......Without a doubt, they consistently delivered some of the best and most OTT action sequences ever filmed and for proof one need look no further than this testosterone oozing, car exploding, crazy stunt filled effort starring C Thomas Howell as a bad ass cop with a proclivity to kill the bad guys. Yes, you did indeed read that last part correctly, C Thomas Howell does indeed (against all odds!) make for a great action star in this typically exhilarating action offering brought to us by the consistently superb Joseph Merhi.

Howell's no nonsense approach to law enforcement stems from a childhood trauma wherein he witnessed his entire family murdered and was himself left for dead by a sadistic team of hit men. Back to the present and now a highly loose cannon, our hero's habitual excessive use of force finds him in constant hot water from his superiors and has inevitably cost him his marriage. Matters take a strange turn one day however when he is initiated into a clandestine organisation calling themselves Justice Incorporated, a sanctioned group of law enforcers who operate a zero tolerance policy above the usual constraints of the law system. Yes, it's shades of the Dirty Harry outing, Magnum Force here. All seems to be going well for a while with the bad guys getting their just deserts.......that is until our hero discovers that the organisation sanctioned the execution of his family years previously...... Revenge is now on the cards.

Well, if you can overlook the highly derivative storyline and a particularly rushed conclusion then you'll find much to enjoy in this little gem, not least of all the absolutely incredible action sequences and stunt work on display throughout. Most notable is the introduction which features an absolutely crazy car chase down a pier in which literally scores of people are getting run over left right and center(!!!!) Truly an incredibly staged scene. Also of amazing note include a truly scary looking roof top dive wherein our hero simultaneously manages to hang a bad guy(!) and a particularly explosive and thrilling freeway chase that would surely make even Michael Bay jealous. Add to this a whole load of bloody shoot outs and fights and a sadly somewhat out of place but nonetheless exciting grand finale with our hero dangling perilously off of a bi-plane(!) (with the stuntman scarily close to the propeller throughout!) and you have a wondrously entertaining one hundred or so minutes.

Simply tremendous stuff......it's such a true shame that PM Entertainment are no longer making films these days.

C. Thomas Howell stars as Mark Goddard, a cop who witnessed his father Dale (The always welcome Jeff Fahey) murdered by mobsters, however as the lone wolf survivor, it's a psychological problem that carries over into his police career, after killing his ninth suspect, Goddard is asked to join a vigilante squad that wipe out the scum of the earth, however when Goddard suspects the squad had a hand in his father's murder, it's one-man-army time with C. Thomas Howell! The Sweeper, believe it or not is far more well made than you would expect. You go in expecting an overall terrible movie but come out somewhat surprised with the overall over the top approach the director treats the material with. The Sweeper comes from the kitchen-sink mentality in the way its action sequences are conducted. In other words this is a throw-back to the 80's, where action punctuated everything. However what is most shocking is that The Sweeper actually stays consistently entertaining even in its character development sequences and C.Thomas Howell makes for a decent action hero, although his haircut is pretty bad. Overall movies like The Sweeper succeed in delivering what you mainly expect and although the movie has ludicrous moments, The Sweeper works as an adequate action vehicle for C. Thomas Howell. Also for the bargain bin, this far exceeds any expectations.

* *1/2 out of 4-(Pretty good)

THE SWEEPER is another solidly enjoyable action flick from PM Entertainment, made at the height of their powers when they were churning out one action-packed bit of spectacle after another. This one has a great opening car chase involving supporting actor Jeff Fahey, before the plot moves on to maverick cop C. Thomas Howell (virtually unrecognisable behind long hair and a beard) and his efforts to get revenge on the gangsters behind his father's death. The plot is nothing special here, but there are a couple of familiar faces in the supporting cast (Ed Lauter, Fulton Perry) and the action comes thick and fast, with all of the hand-to-hand combat, shoot-outs, vehicle chases, explosions, and big, slow motion crashes that PM used to shoot so well.

I'm not going to re-hash what others have said about the storyline in this movie, so, I'll comment on the other aspects. As a B-movie, the action scenes are rather well directed. They are easy to follow, with lots of bullets and explosions. The stunt work is very good, with lots of good surprises. The movie has 2 fairly good car chases, the first with the exploding gas cylinders, the last ending with a biplane. The acting in the movie is nothing to write home about, but really, this isn't the Royal Shakespeare Company, it's a manly action movie.

Bullets? Yup. Bad words? Yup. Bare breasts? Yup. Booms? Yup. What else could you ask for?

Here we have a movie that carries on screen explosions to new lofty levels. Chase scenes with exploding propane tanks and gasoline trucks, create almost continuous mayhem. So what's not to like about "The Sweeper"? Quite a bit actually, starting with a most unlikable performance by C. Thomas Howell. Long boring diatribes about things as mundane as breakfast cereals permeate this disjointed, loosely connected mess of a film. In addition, continuity problems distract, such as where broad daylight suddenly turns into the blackest night. I say this, the stunts are definitely worth checking out, so simply fast forward between fire balls, and avoid the in between. - MERK