Lethal Force

Gotta love hyperbole.... ....but you can't throw enough of the stuff at Lethal Force, a movie that succeeds at satirizing almost every action sub-genre imaginable. Everything about Lethal Force is over the top, from the comedy to the extreme gore in the finally. It's hard for anyone to not like this movie.

Try to imagine a Tarantino script not directed, but ANIMATED by Chuck Jones. I don´t know if that´s the effect director Ecarma tried to achieve with LETHAL FORCE, but don´t let the generic film title fool you. Right at the cartoony first sequence we know that this isn´t your average John Woo rip-off. Ecarma knows where he´s coming from, where he´s going and what he´s doing. Shot on film with a budget of 50.000 dollars, LETHAL FORCE blends every pop culture riff ever imagined and compositions taken directly from comic book pages. But he also gives us likeable characters. Some absurd sequences reminds those old Looney Tunes, but the homoerotic relationship between the leads is believable (look at the big cigars they munch during the flashback sequence with the, uh, vietnamese ninjas), and so´s Jack relation with his son (played with gusto by young actor J. Patrick Collins Jr.).

And the best thing is that Ecarma don´t let the "homages" get in the way of storytelling. At little more than 70´s minutes the movie moves REALLY fast and is filled with great low-budged action sequences. All begins with an exciting fight between Jack and "Psycho Bowtie" (a silent karate-fighting goon played by the multi-talented Eric Thornett, who also directed a cool indie film called 23 HOURS), and ends with a long, gore-drenched, over-the-top finale complete with nods to Abel Ferrara´s DRILLER KILLER and every duel-at-sundown western, decapitations, crucifications and exploding heads - not to mention the priceless blood-squirting eyeball.

This movie has only one fault: it´s not yet available on the home video market. But thanks to the success LETHAL FORCE is making in the festivals circuit, that soon will be corrected.

A great action spoof with great action. The fight coreography is sharp and witty. The dialogue is cheesy in the best possible way. I've seen it twice already and have laughed out loud (along with the rest of the audience) every time. Definitely check it out!

I had the good fortune of catching a screening of this film at this year's Tromadance Film Festival in Park City Utah. This movie is the quintessential exploitation-flick satire. It goofs on everything from A Better Tomorrow to Terms of Endearment. Or was was that Foxy Brown it was making fun of? At any rate, gorehounds, fans of hong kong cinema, and even the ladies can all enjoy this film immensely. There is something for everybody in this gem. I also was fortunate enough to meet the writer/director Alvin Ecarma, and I found him to be a passionate filmmaker with obviously very large aspirations. This assessment proves once again Filipino Directors from Washington DC are indeed second to none in the world of moviemaking. Can't wait until the sequel!!!

Lethal Force terrifically illustrates the way some talented filmmakers can make the most of a shoestring budget. This inspired satire tackles almost every brand of action film conceivable - espionage, Bruce Lee, blaxploitation, women in prison, modern Hong Kong cinema, and '80s Commando flicks - and compliments its material nicely with spectacular visual flair, and the best action choreography you're likely to ever see in a film of this budget. I'd be doing _Lethal Force_ a disservice if I emphasized the budget too much: this film is as entertaining as any Hollywood fare of its year of release. Filmed mostly in Baltimore, _Lethal Force_ continues Charm City's tradition as a hotbed of subversive film activity, yet approaches camp in its own special way that, with all due respect, owes little to the visionary trash of John Waters.