S.W.A.T. 2: Firefight

This movie I will describe like a coin - it has two sides.

The first side is the acting - on the contrary from most of the other reviewers, I found the acting very good. The characters are believable and the actors seem suited for their respective roles. I must admit that I watched this movie mainly because of the actors. I'm a big fan of Robert Patrick, hold respect for Gabriel Macht and it was nice to see Kristana Loken even in a minor role, which she played in style. The strong side of this movie are the actors and the characters - I like movies, that make me sympathize with characters, one way or another, in a positive or negative note. If you evaluate the actors' performance based on the first SWAT movie with Collin Farrel and Samuel Jackson, you might be a little disappointed, but if you watch it as a stand-alone, you might like it.

Now for the things I didn't like. The flip-side of this coin maybe some of you won't describe as something bad, but I personally am getting a little tired of a trend in recent action movies - sloppy endings. Some may say "this is an action movie, just watch the action and don't think too much for the ending!" But I like endings that make me smile and think to myself "yes, that was good!". In this particular movie, the ending is not only sloppy, but it just one more word - short. I fully agree with some other reviews that point out that maybe due to time restrictions the movie was cut short, but unfortunately the part that suffers the most is the ending. There are a few scenes throughout the movie that are just seen so many times and maybe if they were cut in order to add up a few minutes to the ending, the movie would have been better.

One other thing is the pace. The story unfolds pretty quickly, but the actual pace of the on-screen events is a little slow. Not that I find the latter as a flaw, but it kind of builds your thrill, I personally was expecting a grand finale that would blow me away. I like it very much when the good and the bad guy talk to each other, before the final showdown. Like De Niro and Pacino in "Heat". Maybe I'm too much of a yin-yang person, but I just would like to see something more of a clash of the titans endings in movies (literally, not like the movie by the same name). It doesn't matter if it is a happy ending or not, the thing that matters is HOW it is presented to us viewers. It may sound a little harsh, but I really felt robbed by this ending.

And something else - I really feel Robert Patrick's character (he is the bad guy) was presented too shallow. He has too little screen time to convince the audience he really is the bad guy, which is a big flaw of the script in my opinion. Patrick is a very, very, very underrated actor, especially when he plays bad guys and this movie does't utilize his talent whatsoever.

Don't get me wrong, this movie is worth a watch, if you like that genre (police, SWAT team action movies, hostages, tactics), you will enjoy it. But it just isn't something you will remember. If you're looking for something unusual, something that spans out of the box, of the cliché, you may be a little disappointed like I was. This is just an ordinary movie. It could have been great movie, but in my humble opinion it isn't.

6/10 - because good acting is never enough to save a poor story or a poor movie as a whole.

Hardly a 1 out of 10 so I'm not sure where the other guys are coming from. I would be interested in seeing what they think is a 7 or 8 rating for a movie. There are definitely plenty of other movies out there that are worse. SWAT is more like a glorified TV movie than a big budget Bruce Willis movie blockbuster.

Its worth watching if you like your cop/hostage movies. Its kind of like the new Hawaii five O TV series turned into a movie. Judge for yourself but don't let the 1 and 2 ratings above throw you out. I'd expect it to end up around the 5 or 6 mark once the figures balance out. I thought the guys and gals did a good job in it.

OK, let me first say that this is my first ever review - I was compelled to write one based on simply how BAD this movie is. The only reason I didn't give it a 1 is because I have seen worse.

Another reason I felt angry enough to write a review is because I normally like these kind of movies. Normally all you have to do is include something like SWAT, SAS or Marines in the description of the movie and point me towards it and I will lap it up. Unfortunately however, SWAT: Firefight only succeeded for me in one regard - it has SWAT in its title.

The story is just weak, really weak. Just when you feel it is about to get going, it literally ends. Its cliché to an extreme and about as predictable a movie I have ever seen.

I wont go on but to summarize, this is just a bad movie. If you want some decent SWAT like viewing entertainment, I recommend Flashpoint (Canadian TV Series) or possibly watching paint dry could also be considered a viable alternative.

I am very surprised by the low ratings for this film. I watched it not expecting great things, especially considering the low ratings and the fact that its a straight to video bandwagon film. However I was impressed. Yes the acting is not Oscar threatening and there are some cheesy clichés but overall I thought it was a well presented mature film, at the right pace with an above average plot. The script was particularly impressive, instead of the usual 'gung-ho' or unrealistic machismo's there is a lot of normal, down to earth banter that goes on between the team that is very true to life. the realism of the action and more importantly the justification and technical stuff is also well written. I would suggest they don't have a top class professional adviser but they got by. things to consider, there are some (albeit only some) relatively well known actors, some impressive hard wear and sets, including some big explosions. all done on a budget of $8 million. overall, although not on par with the 2003 original, it certainly stands up on its own as easy to watch action movie. I would be interested to see what this film would have been with double or triple the budget.

Los Angeles SWAT team leader Paul Cutler (Gabriel Macht) is sent to Detroit in order to certify the team there for Homeland Security work. Under his watch, they respond to a domestic abuse call that goes wrong, and everything goes downhill quickly.

Let me just give a shout-out to the cast. Gabriel Macht makes an excellent lead. I loved him in "The Spirit", and he does a fine job here of being a leading man, but also somewhat realistic in appearance (he is not as perfectly handsome as Hollywood could have made him). Kristanna Loken is given very prominent billing, but sadly a very small role -- which is too bad, given how much potential she has.

Stealing the show is Robert Patrick as millionaire Walter Hatch. Patrick may be best known to you as the evil robot from "Terminator 2". He has aged a bit and put on a few pounds since then, but is every bit as menacing even without the use of robotic shapeshifting.

I felt that this film took a lot of cues from "Speed". There is no bomb on a bus, or any bus at all. But Patrick seems to be playing a Dennis Hopper villain, there are still bombs, there is taunting, there is a damsel in distress. There is a mysterious background to the villain (wait for the twist -- very awesome).

I liked the film. Action, good plot, likable characters. I am not a big action guy (I am a horror fan), but this film gripped me and never let go. It was exciting beginning to end. A bit cliché here or there, but they were not aiming for Oscar gold. They wanted a fun, exciting action flick. And they nailed it.