misfitone38

It seems they had a horror picture in the works and decided not to deliver it full term.

It was clear that the intent was not to debate abortion or to question the impact of Roe v Wade. Instead, the focus is to expose abortion for what it is and how it is conducted, especially during later stages of the pregnancy.

During one scene a witness for the prosecution is describing how pregnancies are ended in the supposedly "friendlier" confines of a women's health clinic. Director Nick Searcy, who also plays Gosnell's defense attorney, does a clever job of showing that the "healthy" alternative isn't a far leap from the gruesomeness that went on in Gosnell's clinic.

There's also a clever use of a POV shot. It can almost be used to analyze someone's views on the subject. If you instantly recognize the point of view, then there is no debate.

So why pull the punches during scenes when they were raiding the clinic? It was like tv detectives showing up to a crime scene. It should've been presented like something out of "Silence of the Lambs" or investigating a John Doe murder in "Se7en." After all, there were fully developed feet in those jars.

I never thought I would say this...but I wish Michael Bay had directed this. Maybe the earlier entries hold something dear to his heart and he wouldn't have allowed this to go off the rails.

The biggest casualty is the riffing between the Lawrence and Smith, which practically rips the soul right out of the franchise. The laughs from the first two movies came from the strong chemistry between the two leads and how they could argue in the middle of gun fights, car chases, etc. Here they just sound like an old married couple who have grown tired of each other.

The other casualty is the action scenes. The great Sam Peckinpah once said of the violence in his films that he wanted the audience to feel the impact of getting shot. Modern day use of CGI and such does the exact opposite. It feels more like you're watching somebody else play a video game. While some praise the visuals, I criticize its effect of pushing the viewer further away rather than drawing them in.

This could have been like Lethal Weapon IV and had some fun with its theme of the loose cannon dealing with aging. Instead its more like Beverly Hills Cop III and becomes a sad entry in an otherwise solid franchise.

These are the worst kinds of movies...it disguises itself as a socially conscious film and I'm sure its makers claim they want the viewer to be challenged by a story that revolves around the impact of a police shooting and several different characters. It doesn't bring anything new to the table and its all thinly veiled references to real life cases such as Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and even Colin Kaepernick.

It only provides partial and one sided stories which make any try at debating the issues completely useless, let alone come up with any answers. This film has more in common with propaganda than any thought provoking drama.