Sunday, February 16, 2014

Extreme Justice (1993)

The movie starts off with the best police cliche ever when we find out that Jeff Powers is a loose cannon and Internal Affairs wants him to turn in his badge. Oh yeah!  But fortunately for him the S.I.S., a secret agency of the L.A.P.D., recruits him to join their team.

S.I.S. is lead by Dan Vaughn, who was  Powers first partner, and he's recommended Powers for the team.  Now he just has to convince the other guys that this is a good idea.  You see, Powers is a show boater and he doesn't follow the rules - which of course is why he's classified as a loose cannon - but the S.I.S. needs him to tow the line and do exactly what he's told to do. No one shall ask why they think he can actually do this since he's never done it before.

The purpose of the S.I.S. is to take repeat offenders off the street, which seems like a noble cause until we discover that the team seems to kill more of their targets than they arrest. In fact, I'm not sure if they arrest anyone. So much for being discrete.

Powers girlfriend Kelly is an annoying ace reporter who gets wind that something is not quite what it seems when the S.I.S. takes out a group of bank robbers, and there are some civilian casualties in the mix. Nosey Kelly smells a front page story and starts following Vaughn once she figures out he's in  control of the crime scene, but won't talk to her or even give her his name.

If you know action movie cliches, you know what this is going to come down to, and where Powers and Vaughn will stand regarding what's right and what's wrong.  Overall it's a fun watch, although Lou Diamond Phillips hair is so long, feathered, and puffy that it often looks like he's wearing a fur collar. And Scott Glenn has slicked back hair and a porno mustache, which put together make him look sort of like a child molester.  Also watch for the massive tan line across Glenn's forehead. I'm guessing he spent a lot of time wearing a hat or a headband, (well it was the early 90s).

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