Força Excessiva

Thomas Ian Griffith (who was introduced to film audiences as the slimy Terry Silver in The Karate Kid part III) wrote, produced and stars in this action flick about Terry McCann, a Chicago cop with a short fuse (and one hell of a kick) who becomes engulfed in an inside plot to steal $3 million in mob money from a crime scene. They don't like that. He now has to unravel the plot before it gets him killed and those he loves around him.

I really enjoyed Excessive Force (1993). Griffith is a very likable and watchable action hero. The plot isn't the most original thing going for it but it moves fast and has good energy. An interesting cast was assembled for the film which included genre fave Lance Henrikson, Vader's voice James Earl Jones, Candyman himself Tony Todd, Rocky's brother-in-law Burt Young and the exotic Charlotte Lewis. The cast I think is what saved it from becoming standard action fare.

Terry McCain and his team of Chicago police officers bust up part of mob boss Sal DiMarco's operations. The trial falls through due to the use of excessive force, but $3000000 from the bust goes missing. When DiMarco kills both McCain's partners in an attempt to get the money back, McCain goes after him but decides to spare his life. The next day DiMarco is found dead and McCain realises that there are crooked people around him who are using him to do their dirty work and that they'll soon need to kill him to tidy it all up.

Seeing the cast list in my TV guide I assumed that this would be a classy little thriller so I decided to give it a go. When the opening credits made it look more like any one of a million `straight to video' martial arts films I realised that I had been duped a bit, but decided to give it a go anyway. The plot (written by Griffith himself) is basically the normal one for this type of thing – cop is framed and must fight an army to clear himself and take down the bad guy. It is delivered in quite a good way so it never feels as lame as it is if you actually think about it later. The `twists' are expected – or at least you know there will be twists as there always is in this type of thing.

For an action film I must admit that I found the action scenes to be quite workmanlike and even dull at times. It is evident that Griffith had been watching the films coming out of Hong Kong at the time and had wanted to try and emulate some of that. This can be seen in the two handed gun play he does as well as the scenes in the jazz bar (both of which show that he had seen John Woo's Hard Boiled at least). Sadly without the same style he never gets close and most of his fights are good but far from anything impressive or spectacular. Despite these influences the film still falls into the old clichés, so we have a few scenes of T&A (both actually quite nice – Lewis is better looking that she appears and Cruzat only input is to wear very small underwear and walk across a room - yummy!)

Griffith actually struggles to carry the film and I didn't feel that he had the screen presence he needed to do it. At the start of the film I didn't think he had the looks of a leading man and looked more like a support bad guy – nothing in the film changed this view, although he did do quite well with some of the more `emotional scenes'. Happily the support cast is full of familiar faces, although why they all signed up for this is beyond me! The famous support is split into two camps – those that make the film better and those who seem to be slumming it. James Earl Jones and Burt Young are definitely among the `slummers' and seem confused as to how they signed up for this. In the other camp Henriksen raises every scene and is better than his stereotypical role should have been, while Todd (Candyman) is lively and enjoyable. Charlotte Lewis used to be in Grange Hill as a youth but her English accent doesn't get in the way – and the T&A clause in her contract shows her to have grown up nicely! Sadly she has little to do but be naked or be saved by McCain!

Overall this is not an awful film but it is a very ordinary one. If you have a choice between a blockbuster and this then I'd be tempted to pass on this but, out of a like for like choice this is actually pretty much par for the course. Not great in any sense of the word but just about has enough going for it to justify watching it if there's nothing else on TV.

i liked this movie.sure ti's your typical action/crime drama film,but Thomas Ian Griffith makes a pretty credible action star.plus Burt Young was very convincing as a mob boss.there's certainly plenty of action here,but it's not too over the top.i thought the fight scenes were more realistic than in most movies of the genre.Griffith displays some great moves.which suggest he is very skilled in fighting himself,or the fight choreography was very well done.what's refreshing is there are no flashy camera tricks this time around.the movie moves at a good pace,and there are a few twists and turns,which make it more interesting.it is unrealistic at times,of course.Griffith is basically a one man army,against what should be overwhelming odds.other than that this is an entertaining 95 minutes.i give Excessive Force a 7/10

This is an AWESOME and underrated martial arts flick. The action is fast-paced, the plot is intriguing, and Thomas Ian Griffith shows off some impressive martial arts talent. The film has everything you want. From classic one-liners to over the top shoot-outs! If you are a fan of Van Damme or Seagal movies, you better check it out. Thomas Ian Griffith could of had a great career, too bad he never got another chance. The film also has an amazing supporting cast and direction and editing are perfect. A rare gem! I've seen the film over a dozen times and it never gets old...highly recommended. One of the last good 90's action kick 'em ups.

What starts out looking like a vanity project for Thomas Ian Griffith, eventually morphs into a pretty good action flick. There are some pretty good actors that contribute mightily. Burt Young always delivers an interesting performance, with bad guys his specialty. Here he dishes out some out of the ordinary violence. For the first half of the film, I was wondering what James Earl Jones was doing in the movie? Only in the second half does his character gets more involved. Griffith high kicks his way through a nice assortment of bad guys who have zero character development. Towards the conclusion a twist is delivered that I did not see coming, and Lance Henriksen delivers the goods, as he too has little to do until the last part of "Excessive Force". Overall an entertaining film that delivers what it promises. - MERK