Tag Line: It’s Time For “Action.”
Directed by Craig R. Baxley
Starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone
THE KILL: When a movie has the word ‘action’ in the title, you expect it to be filled with a certain level of action throughout. A movie produced by Joel Silver generally equals a certain level of action as well, especially since he already had PREDATOR and LETHAL WEAPON under his belt by this time. And when a movie stars Carl Weathers, who blew away the jungle along side Arnold Schwarzenegger and boxed the shite out of Sylvester Stallone on more than one occasion, that level of expectant action goes up yet another notch. So how in the world does ACTION JACKSON fall so short?
On paper, ACTION JACKSON delivers on all levels of what a true and blue action flick from the 80s is all about. Muscle bound hero delivering one liners with a no holds bar attitude, a badass reputation that speaks louder than words, and a certain way with the ladies (both Sharon Stone and Vanity) that has em’ dropping like flies when he enters the room. Throw in a couple of action scenes, an evil corporate bad guy (played awesomely by Craig T. Nelson), and you have yourselves ACTION JACKSON in a nutshell. So how does this action flick not live up to par? That’s just it… it doesn’t have enough action!!!
The flick begins with a bang as Ed O’Ross meets his maker in a most spectacular way, then everything turns stagnate for about a half an hour, as we meet Jerricho “Action” Jackson and learn of his action packed past, and his current “no action” desk job. Then there’s a quick little action sequence involving Jackson running faster than a cab and punching through a windshield as if he was the Terminator, then back to more cat and mouse shenanigans as we find out who the bad guy is, then Jackson is wrongly framed for murder. We then follow him around as he hooks up with the bad guy’s heron addicted girlfriend, and as he kicks ass here and there along the way (but all too briefly) to end all too soon at the final party action sequence. And while that might seem like a lot of action—there just isn’t enough.
For an 80s action movie, I would actually call this sucker boring. Boring for an action movie, action packed for a drama… and that’s not a good thing. Especially as the flick had the making and the potential to be awesome. Weathers does a fantastic job as Jackson—the problem is the script had nothing for him to do to show just how badass he is. Sharon Stone and Vanity do adequate jobs as the leading ladies (hey—they both go topless!), and Nelson steels the show as the bad guy with blonde hair and black eyebrows that you simply just love to hate. So what’s the problem here? Oh, that’s right—there’s not enough action!!!
As I grew bored in between the few action set pieces, I began to spot and appreciate the cameos from some other Silver-produced action flicks that I know and love. This is what was really enjoyable for me. There’s a PREDATOR reunion, as Bill Duke and Richard Chaves (Billy) both make an appearance; then there’s the DIE HARD reunion, with De’voreaux White (Argyle, the limo driver), one of the blonde henchman (the one who looks like Huey Lewis), and the other special agent Johnson played by Robert Davi (who has been in a number of other 80s classics, including RAW DEAL, THE GOONIES, and LICENSE TO KILL). To top it all off, there’s the appearance of Mary Ellen Trainor, who had memorable roles in the LETHAL WEAPON series (the precinct’s shrink), DIE HARD (TV reporter), and THE MONSTER SQUAD (the hot mom). There’s enough cameos to keep you entertained here… even if the action probably won’t.
In the end, ACTION JACKSON isn’t a bad movie, as it’s fairly entertaining and loaded with enough one liners to keep you busy, it’s just that ACTION JACKSON is really just a tease of a good action movie. The flick features all of the elements that makes other films like it shine, without one major component: the action! Instead of telling us how badass and action orientated Jackson is (and they will tell you about the ‘action’ days to no end), they should have spent a little extra time and a little extra money and actually showed us how badass and action orientated he is. It’s not as though I don’t believe the good folks of Detroit when they tell me he’s badass… I’d just like to see the Jackson that earned him the nickname ‘Action,’ not the Jackson who’s been busy pushing too many pencils and not where the action is. It’s no wonder there was never a sequel…
TOP DEATH: The kill in the opening sequence is by far the best of the whole movie – brutal and hardcore, a grenade launcher to the chest then blown out of a 20 story window always equals a good time!
TOP ACTION SCENE: The ridiculousness of Action Jackson chasing after, catching up, and riding the roof of a speeding cabbie has to be the most popcorn fun sequence this flick has to offer.
TOP HOMOEROTIC MOMENT: It’s the 80s, so there’s one shirtless Action Jackson oiled down, and glistening off of every rippling muscle—but nothing beyond that.
FEMALE EXPLOITATION: ACTION JACKSON might not have much action, but it does have its share of female nudity! A movie with Sharon Stone equals a movie with her boobies in more than one scene—very nice! 80s pop star Vanity also shows off the goods and gives us two reasons to keep watching.
TOP LINE/DIALOGUE:
Action Jackson: How do you like your ribs? [Shoots a guy in the chest with a flame thrower.]
DRINKING GAME: Everytime someone talks about how badass Action Jackson used to be, you have to drink!
TRIVIA:
Producer Joel Silver sandwhiched ACTION JACKSON in-between producing PREDATOR and DIE HARD. Two out of three ain’t bad!