Dirty Harry na Lista Negra

Having just seen Dead Pool, the last of the Dirty Harry series, I have to say that I enjoyed this film as much as the other four. I don't have a favorite, I loved them all. Recently I became interested in Clint Eastwood's films and have seen a number of them including the westerns. Eastwood is an amazing guy. He has presence on the screen that is extraordinary. It's not that he is such a great actor, but I can't take my eyes off of him when he is in a scene. His face conveys such hysterical expression when he comes out with, "Swell!" or "Marvelous!" He's irreverent, gritty, rude, shoots criminals in the back, beats the sh-t out of them, antagonizes everyone, and so what. He gets the job done! I liked everyone in the cast even Patricia Clarkson and her nasal voice. Liam Neeson was great, sounding for all the world exactly like Ralph Fiennes. And the music in all five of the series was terrific -the best! What a treat!

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.

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.

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.

Clint Eastwood wraps up his run as what is arguably his single most famous character (or maybe that The Man with No Name) in this entertaining thriller. This fifth entry in the Dirty Harry series also has the most interesting plot - on a popular horror film director's set a list of people, whom the players of a certain bizarre game expect to die, known as the "dead pool" starts to become too much of a reality as some of the mentioned people begin to die. Of course, soon enough a copy of the list surfaces with Harry's name on it.

For a what is a straight-forward thriller formula this film packs enough memorable moments to be enjoyed by more than just Dirty Harry fans. Jim Carrey appears, in a very early role, as a crazy rock star. Harry finds out that he might have met his match in terms of partners. Harry of for once actually hunted by a bad guy giving the film slightly more suspense than previous entries. Finally there is a crazy car chase where Harry and his partner are attempting to evade a remote control car. Meaning, yes, the hard as nails Detective Harry Callahan is flooring it to get away from a toy, but you see the toy has a bomb so it is not that Harry is getting soft all of a sudden.

Also there is the interesting notion here of a film becoming a bit "too real" as people on the Dead Pool actually start to die and the list is found on a film set. It was only a few years after this that Clint Eastwood put down his .44 Magnum and badass persona for good to a more realistic set of films that continue to this day. Clint might have become a bit more real, but he was still great when he was being slightly ridiculous. --- 8/10

BsCDb Classification: 13+ --- violence