Cidade do Medo

'Scar City' aka 'Scarred City' from dtv companies Millennium Films, Nu-Image doesn't do anything fresh with it's b-pic formula, but its another reminder that you don't mind when the action is carried out well. A big cast in Stephen Baldwin, Tia Carrere, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Rispoli and Gary Dourdan doesn't hurt neither.

Officer John Trace (Baldwin) is already on shaky ground after three cop shootings in a year when he gets his fourth fatality. In steps Lt. Devon (Palminteri) who plants evidence and saves his ass on the condition he joins a SCAR unit made up of killers with badges. When this rogue unit with authority all the way from the top goes after a Bolivian drug dealer, John spares the life of callgirl and singer Candy (Carrere) which quickly puts the both of them on the unit's hitlist.

The morality play on display here is super thin and not something to be thought of deeply. John goes from being a slight gung-ho a-hole himself with a disregard for perps rights to thinking this unit pushes it too far in the blink of an eye. Chazz relishes dialog as the head of the unit while Baldwin with his glazed style of acting is sufficient. Carrere provides her beauty and a partner in crime for the second halve rather than just be a stock damsel in distress.

Between having seen other b-movies go over this same territory to it's 'walk the streets' credit sequence opening that had a suspect intro to our main character, I firmly knew where 'Scarred City' stood. If you're willing to look past a story low on believability this has a solid cast, few bursts of good action and doesn't waste time getting down to business.

I had no expectations of this film, but I was thoroughly entertained. We showed it to friends the very next day to see what they thought.

The film's premise is quite outrageous and it is executed in a stylishly outrageous way. There are several Wow! or 'Nice Shot' moments. In fact this film is very close to Grand Theft Auto.

The script is genuinely funny, reminiscent of another Tia Carrere classic, Hollow Point.

For some reason the idea of a Baldwin film is an amusing thing. The South Park movie says, "What sucks about being a Baldwin? Nothing!" I am impressed with Stephen Baldwin's restrained, laconic, dry and heroic performance. We wondered if he were blind, considering the number of disconcerting smiles he issues with his eyes closed.

Chazz Palminteri is the Man. He's given the stupidest role and as usual he makes it seem almost convincing, while he enjoys himself a great deal.

Tia Carrere sings, moves around a lot, looks good, has her moments and kills people. What more can you ask for?

This film scores over many 'better' films by working hard to introduce the opposition. You are half way through the film. You know Stephen Baldwin is up against it, and all the bad guys are still there.

The film is filled with memorable characters. I very much enjoyed the 'fight in the bar' scene because there's no fight. They should use the bouncer in a new series of the Munsters.

Baldwin is trying to be Rambo here,kills about everyone in sight and then some.The guy should stick to stuff he does well and forget trying to be Stallone.Thats about all there is to say about this movie.The plot is about a bunch of crazy vigilante cops who seem to just like to murder people,some of whom happen to be criminals.Baldwin does his best to act tough and delivers every line in as much a husky voice as he can master but he just ain't the dude for this type of role.He is a cop opposed to the lawless violence,meets a prostitute played by Tia Carrere whom i usually like but i didn't like her in this,she has too may wisecracks and too much personality for this role. Neither the bad guys nor the good guys make any sense in this movie,there is a lot of shooting but the motivations and the characters are all paper-thin,Palminteri is simply wasted here.

This is a strictly B movie that manages to successfully disguise its true identity up until the last 1/3rd of the story.

The story is nothing new - Clint Easywood, amongst others, charted the same territory of vigilante cops pulling the wrong newbie into their group in 1973's MAGNUM FORCE - but it has been spiced up with some bullet ballet that is actually more realistic than most big budget affairs produce. Overall, the photography and lighting are very professional in a gritty way, and so is the editing, which gives the movie a very polished, well-budgeted look. Still, police dramas with mediocre plots need to be carried by their characters, and while Stephen Baldwin does make an interesting hero, his shooting does more for character development than his dialogue. Tia Carrere is nice, but she comes across way too smart, and definitely way too composed, for a call-girl, and she shows virtually zero skin - an especially big disappointment in a genre film of this kind...:) If anything, the supporting characters, the 'baddies' who make up the police team, are the ones that carry you through several scenes: their action is fairly nicely choreographed, and it is a pleasure to see them die.

...but, ultimately, Scar City really fails. The first third is somewhat engaging, because the director wisely spends his time to establish the protagonists' and the antagonists' strengths and weaknesses. The second third rolls well because of all the action suddenly exploding onto the screen. In the third, though, where action and characters could be nicely pulled together into a tight, plot-driven finale, the film crumbles into a dozen silly clichés and inconsistencies instead. Why would you ask someone whether they can shoot, a few hours after they showed you their gun, telling you how they used to shoot squirrels with it? The mess is hardly mopped up by an incomplete and nonsensical ending that makes it look like the director was too tired to tie up a dozen characters and plot lines.

Still, for a slow weekday evening it is good gunplay.

Given the middle of the road IMDb ratings I didn't expect much from this movie, but after viewing the trailer decided to give it a shot. Was I pleasantly surprised! The story about a cop with issues who joins the corrupt, homicidal, vigilante police unit, then sees the light and fights them is certainly not new, but this movie delivered on what it purports to be--an enjoyable, fast-paced action film.

The three main actors were somewhat deadpan in their delivery, but that made their characters seem all the more...well, scarred. The movie contained all the ingredients for an engaging film: It had action, characters you care about, and even some romance. Hey, it's not "Ben-Hur" but it's a terrific little B film that worth checking out.