Overkill

This movie has a special place in my heart. I suppose if you're looking for a good action flick or a story with any substance, this ain't the one for you. However, if you have a forgiving sense of humor, appreciate trite cinema clichés, bad over-acting, bad under-acting, shallow, vapid writing, ridiculous stunt work and slapstick-like choreography, you've come to the right place.

You can play a great drinking game with this movie. Every time a character uses a redundant line or explains what is happening for the viewer's sake, take a drink. You'll be smashed.

I think my favorite scene in the movie comes up early. There is a struggle in the hotel lobby. Lt. Jack Hazard starts to wreck shop, but the guy he is destined to reluctantly protect is being strangled under a water fountain in the plaza! He manages to survive for the minute or two it takes Jack to get everything under control, but by the pained look on his face you can clearly tell that he is having trouble breathing, the water is splashing all over his face! He makes very loud choking sounds so you can tell he's really suffocating!

This one should go down in history.

OVERKILL is a quite wonderful mid-'90s B-movie starring Aaron Norris, the brother of Chuck who nobody's head of. It's a complete travesty of a film, of course, and completely trashy in the best 1990s sense, and yet it's oddly enjoyable for fans of the genre. A predominance of the kind of hard-hitting fight scenes that '90s films are known for helps with the entertainment factor.

The plot is an uninspired retread of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, or perhaps HARD TARGET; Norris's loner hero is the prey of a rich huntsman and his team of mercenaries in some Central American country. He's saddled with irritating comedy relief and a typically beautiful love interest, but what follows will surprise nobody: this follows a tired plot line without any variance of deviation; the kind of thing we've seen dozens of times before.

Still, the action is just about acceptable and that's what makes this film just about watchable - if you're in a forgiving mood. Norris is an entirely wooden screen presence - not that he has anything in the way of actual PRESENCE - but physiccally he's not bad as a slower version of his brother. His end bout with villain David Rowe makes for goofy fun. Michael Nouri slums it as the chief bad guy of the piece, and there's even some mumbo jumbo nonsense involving jungle spirits thrown into the mix. The most outstanding thing? Norris's beautifully-tended hair...

I can't say I know what it is but I can offer this. My friends and I were vacationing in Puerto Vallarta when one day we were approached by a woman on the beach. She was a casting director for a film they were shooting nearby and needed extras to be "Swat Cops." It paid 50 bucks and would make a great Spring Break story. So we showed up on the set and were told it was going to be a very exciting movie as it was starring Chuck Norris's brother, Aaron. So we get dressed in the wardrobe and show up on the set when the Director yelled at the casting director telling her that he didn't want any extras that were bigger and better looking than the Star. We didn't get paid but we got free food out of the deal and a lot of funny pictures behind the set. And we hung out the next day with Pamela Dickerson who said she was the female lead. Her name does appear in the credits but having never seen the film, who knows what part she had.

Aaron Norris stars as a martial artist/cop who goes down to some Caribbean island and is hunted by a sadistic Michael Nouri (In an embarrassing performance) in this Hard Target rip off which is of far lower grade. The main problem with this movie is the acting. Aaron Norris wasn't much of a director and he is an even worse actor. He makes his brother Chuck and even his nephew Mike seem like James Cagney and Spencer Tracy. Aaron Norris is severe in his humorless, charisma-less performance which asks why he even bothered acting if this was the best he could do. He obviously wants to ape Chuck Norris but Norris at least has a screen presence that makes up for his lack of skills. One other thing is that Norris looks exciting kicking ass (As do most action stars who are in this line of work, provided the movie is decent) however Norris looks slow, old and ugly. So do the fights and basically the hunt goes on forever without once indicating excitement. Overkill is appropriate title since the "Most Dangerous Game" premise has been done to overkill but aside from this the best thing about the movie are the previews before the movie.

* out of 4-(Bad)

This is the kind of movie that's so bad it's funny, and that almost makes it worth watching. Every move and every line is such an unrealistic clichè it will haunt you for days...

And the acting...Don't get me started.