So lets have a look at this Norris vehicle. The title is pretty straight forward and virtually tells you everything you need to know. Someone has obviously gotten killed, and Chuck is gonna deliver some meaty justice. What could go wrong?
Yes I literally just explained the plot, it's that simple. The movie starts out like a Pacino drama. Very dark, grimy, rainy and moody, good cinematography, Chuck's partner actually looks like he just stepped off the set of 'Serpico'. Heck, he even has a character name that sounds like it came from a Pacino drama. Naturally this guy is gonna get it, both barrels. But Chuck ain't gonna take that sitting down, oh hell no, he's gonna catch one bad guy and throw him out of a high-rise, public view be damned. But you guessed it, Chuck's Chief is not too pleased about that shit show, but Chuck ain't gonna let him finish his investigation, Chuck's outta there!
Sooo long story short, this is your stereotypical drug-smuggling action flick, where the good guys have gotta uncover the Kingpin and stop the operation. Of course there are henchmen, dirty cops, assassinations, gun fights, and a big showdown at the final boss's big drug-financed mansion. It felt very much like an early version of 'Beverly Hills Cop' to be honest, but not as slick.
This movie also some wild casting. Believe it or not, but the main Kingpin is played by Christopher Lee! Total miscasting if you ask me, because he essentially looks like a classic aristocratic Englishman who just stepped out of a time portal from the late Victorian, early Edwardian era. Obviously there is nothing wrong with that; that is Lee's entire persona, but it doesn't really fit in with a drug-dealing action flick set in sunny San Francisco. Toru Tanaka is one of the big bad henchmen, with a clump foot condition, oddly (making the on-foot chase sequence absolutely ridiculous). Then there's Richard Roundtree who is almost too perfect, dare I say typecast, as Chuck's police Chief. And Mako teams up with Chuck to take on the bad guys.
Naturally, you can expect lots of action...actually no, you'd be wrong. Strange as it might seem, there isn't a whole lot of action in this movie, and what there is was pretty standard guff. Every time Chuck fights bad guys, he generally does the same set of moves. I mean, in these early flicks, this was new and exciting, watching now... it's a bit dull and tepid. This movie (and most of Chuck's movies), do tend to feel a bit like slightly adult episodes of 'The A-Team' whereby, if there's a window, wall, fence, ledge, pool, cliff, door etc...then the bad guy is going over it, through it, or in it. And the problem is you can see this coming a mile away.
What you do get here, is lots of beautiful scenic shots and sequences of San Francisco in the sun. There is quite a lot of padding simply with lingering shots (as lovely as they are) of the city from various angles, and quite a few of Chuck walking and driving around from place to place looking for clues or chatting with locals (not even sure if they were paid extras).
The big finale is exciting, but let's not get too carried away. There is a big gun battle between cops and the bad guys. Chuck finally faces off against Toru Tanaka, spoiler alert, he wins. Mako kicks some bad guy butt too, and Lee tries to pull off the most polite kidnapping and escape I've ever seen in an action flick (such a bizarre casting choice). All the while, Chuck is dressed in some lovely sensible attire, making him look like a middle-aged dad from a comedy sitcom. So yeah, this is a seemingly real mixed bag of, not too subtle, ideas. As if they couldn't really decide which way they wanted to go, buddy cop action flick, or adult thriller angle. Like I said, it feels like a TV movie, an extended episode from some cop show.
4/10
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