Action Jackson (1988)

 

Synopsis: Police sergeant with a Stanford law degree and the ability to outrun speeding taxi cabs(!!) takes on…wait, WTF?!? 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Get ready for ACTION! Like the blast from a .44 magnum, ACTION JACKSON explodes with the most spectacular action/adventure excitement of the year.” 

What Did I Learn?: Murder is a tool. [That’s a quote from the movie, btw]

You Might Like This Movie If: You love every project Carl Weathers ever attempted. 

Really?: 1) See: “Synopsis.” Seriously, Jackson has a top-notch legal education, and is able to debate case law with a judge during a party, yet he decided to remain a cop even after he was demoted? 2) Um….how does a sassy hairstylist know all about Peter Delaplane’s (Craig T. Nelson) criminal activities and top-secret moves? 3) I really didn’t need to see Papa Doc’s testicles preserved in a pickle jar; also, why would that set of villains want to give Jackson the same treatment? Wouldn’t he likely return some day in a murderous rage and looking for some payback? 4) So, wait… it’s suddenly revealed during Delaplane’s big garden party that he attempted to assassinate a union leader, Delaplane orders that his helicopter be made available because the jig is clearly up and he’ll soon be a wanted man, and yet he still finds time to return to his bedroom for the express purpose of giving his mistress a fatal heroin overdose. WTF? 5) Funny how Delaplane’s trained assassins are presented as nearly super-human in the opening scenes (they can somehow appear and disappear at will), yet Jackson doesn’t seem to have much trouble dispatching them. 6) Goodness knows, if I ever drive a high-performance sports car through somebody’s mansion, I’ll be sure to recite the car’s marketing slogan as I do so. 

Rating: Created as a starring vehicle for Carl Weathers, Action Jackson is basically a Dirty Harry ripoff that feels more like a reboot of the television series Sledge Hammer with Weathers in the title role (when he’s reminded that he once tore off a suspect’s arm, Jackson replies: “he had a spare!”) Weathers is certainly likeable as Joshua Jackson, and Vanity is quite good as the villain’s mistress, but the script doesn’t make much sense (see: “Synopsis”, “What Did I Learn?” And “Really?”), and it bizarrely attempts to combine a lot of brutal violence with a cartoonish tone. Check it out if you want to see Nelson before he became Coach, Sharon Stone pre-Basic Instinct, or you’ve ever wondered what Thomas Wilson did after he played Biff Tannen in the Back to the Future films (he plays one of the two inept patrol cops). 5.5/10 stars. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094612/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0