Action Jackson

Aaaah the late 80s… when:

• The fact that a character's name is 'Action' Jackson didn't need to be justified. It just was. • We take for granted that Action Jackson is scary and awe-inspiring as peripheral characters tell us so. • Ditto the fact that his passion for his job and creative methods have resulted in him being demoted and his wife leaving him… • The bad guy is identified early. • Better still he is already Action Jackson's nemesis. • Better still, still. The guy responsible for his demotion and wife leaving him. • Unexpected and unnecessary nudity was both expected and necessary. • The bad guy has a hot trophy wife (Sharon Stone) and a hot mistress (Vanity). • Both of whom are more than willing to take their clothes off for little reason.

Furthermore…

• Women get out of the shower nude. Guys are wearing jeans. • Performing in a club with a totally see through top isn't noticed by anyone in the club – but those of us watching at home… • It doesn't matter if the hero doesn't actually say something funny or clever, as long as he and the other characters seem to think what he is saying is funny and/or clever. • Post-kill quips still need work though, no "Hasta la vista Baby" or "Stick around here"… (though "How do you like your ribs" was OK. The answer is apparently 'exploded'.) • Dangerous minions can time their hit and run assassination attempts to coincide with the came split second that their target walks through a door, despite traffic and the fact that they are hundreds of yards away with no possible way of knowing that this was the point he was to emerge… • "I have to catch a cab' means a chase scene, with Jackson not only catching up but giving him a mouthful through the window of his speeding car… while still on foot! • Leading to big explosions and certain civilian deaths, none of which are mentioned again. • People get hit in the face and actually bleed. (Happens less on film nowadays than you think.) • Cheesy pop music on the soundtrack is justifiable for the fact that it was the 80s, the spiritual home of cheesy pop music. • Every character actor in the film is recognisable from another classic film of the era. In the first 10 minutes I saw minor roles filled with actors from Predator, Beverly Hills Cop, Red Heat, Back to the Future and seemingly half of the cast of Die Hard. • We know the big showdown will be a fist fight when we see the Bad Guy training in hand to hand combat. • A good body double can make you think that a 60 year old is a karate machine… why don't we ever manage to see his face while he pulling off these athletic moves…? • Stunt men are plentiful and disposable, and unnecessary CGI is not needed. • Movies were 80 minutes long and had a beginning, middle and end.

Final Rating – 6 / 10. None of the above things are bad. Action Jackson is not in the same league as Lethal Weapon, Die Hard and their peers, but it is a solid formula action comedy, which proves that Carl Weathers had genuine on screen likability.

The violence in this movie is brutal and efficiently directed, the action sequences spectacular, the main villain great and the hero, Carl Weathers, can hold his own when compared to other big action stars of the 80's. In short, "Action Jackson" has all the ingredients to be a good rental choice for action fans. If only they had avoided some of those needless digressions (like Jackson's fight with a junkie).... (**1/2)

A late-'80s action movie directed by a stunt man (and all that that implies!)

No one's pretending "Action Jackson" is high art, but man is it fun. The only guns Carl Weathers needs to fight crime are his rippling biceps. Throw in the wickedly evil Craig T. Nelson and a couple of foxy supporting ladies, and baby you got a stew going (couldn't help the Arrested Development reference).

This has all of the tropes of the period, plus a healthy dose of blaxploitation; and it's a potent mixture. Not to mention the wide range of stunts. Let me put it another way; a bad guy is thrown out of the window of one building ... and through the window of another one! It's loud, over-the-top and wildly entertaining.

Action is a proud man, a high-school track star, a dedicated cop, a sergeant who lost his lieutenant's stripes almost two years ago…

He jostles a conceited, two-faced, backstabbing mass murderer called Peter Dellaplane (Craig T. Nelson). Director Craig R. Baxley has not only carried it off, but makes you believe it… One must also give some of the credit to Carl Weathers whose erect muscular body and his charm and good looks give some credence to the heroics…

The picture contains fun, lots of action, and two sexy women…

Vanity looked so gorgeous when she was shot up with heroin…

Stone met her husband after his first wife died and his son went to prison… She thinks that he may seem greedy and arrogant but he remained loved by everyone, and the whole experience changed him… She also thinks that Jackson is not so different from her husband, that both are stubborn, and both intent on getting what they want

While it is a pretty standard genre flick in some respects (maverick hero, psychotic and ambitious bad guy, beautiful women, angry boss, lots of explosions, etc.), "Action Jackson" maintains an irresistibly silly, tongue in cheek style. It's often so damn silly that it's hilarious. Just witness our hero's attempts to take down a cab driving goon. It begins with a good "grabber" opening, and continues to deliver enough mayhem to keep the action junkie consistently amused.

In his first starring vehicle, Carl Weathers once again shows off effortless charisma and his incredibly chiseled body. He's a natural for a role like this, playing the title character, a detective who's been saddled with a desk job for two years but who gets caught up in the schemes of Peter Dellaplane (a wonderfully hammy Craig T. Nelson), an auto tycoon with political ambitions and a murderous nature. Action Jackson figures that the way to get to Dellaplane is through his women: either his young second wife Patrice (Sharon Stone) or his foxy mistress Sydney (singer / actress Vanity).

The film comes up with a couple of one liners, some better than others. "So? He had a spare!" You know it's not meant to be taken seriously when Action Jackson actually drives a car through his quarry's house - and that's just one major example. The clichés are there, too: we have the kind of "Talking Villain" who feels the obligation to tell the good guy his entire evil plan - wrongly assuming, of course, that his nemesis is toast. Craig R. Baxley, a longtime stunt specialist in a career dating back to the early 70s, makes his theatrical directing debut here, and he would follow it up with such other delights as "I Come In Peace" (a.k.a. "Dark Angel") and "Stone Cold". So the movie is naturally full of great stunt work.

One awesome aspect to this movie is playing Spot the Familiar Face. And lots of them turn up - Thomas F. Wilson, Bill Duke, Robert Davi, Jack Thibeau, Roger Aaron Brown, Mary Ellen Trainor, Ed O'Ross, Bob Minor, Dennis Hayden, Brian Libby, Al Leong, De'voreaux White, Jim Haynie, Nicholas Worth, Chino 'Fats' Williams, Charles Meshack, Miguel A. Nunez Jr., Branscombe Richmond, and Sonny Landham. Now THAT'S an impressive cast!

Add to that a very 80s pop soundtrack (Vanity herself performs two tunes), a score by Herbie Hancock and Michael Kamen, a fairly high body count, and a lively finish, and you've got the ingredients for a damn fine 96 minutes of entertainment.

Seven out of 10.