Film Review: DEMOLITION MAN (1993, Marco Brambilla)

Stars: 3.75 of 5.
Running Time: 115 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Glenn Shadix (BEETLEJUICE, SLEEPWALKERS), Denis Leary (TRUE CRIME, RESCUE ME), Nigel Hawthorne (GANDHI, FIREFOX), Andre Gregory (MY DINNER WITH ANDRE, THE LINGUINI INCIDENT), Troy Evans (THE LAWNMOWER MAN, UNDER SIEGE, ER), Bob Gunton (THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, JFK). Bit parts by Jack Black and Jesse Ventura. Music by Elliot Goldenthal (HEAT, PUBLIC ENEMIES), cinematography by Alex Thomson (THE KEEP, LABYRINTH, EXECUTIVE DECISION), editing by Stuart Baird (director of EXECUTIVE DECISION, editor of SUPERMAN and LETHAL WEAPON), Directed by Marco Brambilla (DINOTOPIA, EXCESS BAGGAGE).
Tag-line: "In the year 2032, Simon Phoenix escapes from prison, on the verge of bringing crime to San Angeles. One man is called back to duty as a last resort. They call him... THE DEMOLITION MAN."
Best one-liner: "You're gonna regret this the rest of your life... both seconds of it!"

Picture this possibly fictitious scenario. It's Los Angeles in 1991. Sylvester Stallone broods in the flickering darkness of a movie theater screening TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. Perhaps a single tear rolls down his cheek. Like Salieri, he knows that he can never adequately respond to this latest salvo in the Schwarzenegger/Stallone rivalry. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he thinks that if he could just have his own 'man waking up naked in a time that is not his own to fight an epically demonic foe' movie, maybe he could show the world that Stallone is not going down without a fight.

Two years later, we have DEMOLITION MAN. It does not approach the heights of T2, but what we have here is a frivolous but quotable action flick from the screenwriter of HEATHERS. (And the commentary on the futuristic "utopia," even when it reaches cornball levels, is always entertaining.)

There's a lot going on here:

Wesley Snipes is about as psychotically entertaining as a villain can be, despite the fact that his wardrobe looks culled from the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE movie.

Does that belong to Bebop? Perhaps Rocksteady?

(Jesse Ventura even gets in on the action. In a henchman's role which apparently possesses greater depth in the novelization.)

Denis Leary as a shaggy resistance member:

Bob Gunton playing a character which can only be referred to as the 'poor man's Donald Pleasence':

Glenn Shadix (R.I.P.) with a shock of white hair, a kimono, and that patented smarmy attitude which won the hearts and minds of everyone from HEATHERS and BEETLEJUICE fans to Tennessee Williams himself (!).

Greenhorn actor Andre Gregory is afforded the enviable opportunity to share some screen-time with Wesley Snipes:

And we're entreated to many fantastic tableaux of Snipes firing lasers, machine guns, etc. and Stallone diving for cover with that profound- yet familiar- expression etched upon his rubbery face.

YAHHHH

And, as far as the weirdly prescient references go in Stallone vs. Schwarzenegger movies, there are some odd ones here: "Scott Peterson" appears as a name in the criminal database years before his infamy, and there is a reference to the "Arnold Schwarzenegger Presidential Library" and the 61st Amendment which made his presidency possible. An ominous portent of things to come? (Schwarzenegger himself seeks presently to overturn the constitutional clause that would prevent foreign-born nationals from becoming president...)

I'm unsure what more you could even hope to get out of DEMOLITION MAN. Nearly four stars.

-Sean Gill

Film Review: SLEEPWALKERS (1992, Mick Garris)

Stars: 3.2 of 5.
Running Time: 91 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Brian Krause (RETURN TO THE BLUE LAGOON), Mädchen Amick (TWIN PEAKS, MY OWN WORST ENEMY), Alice Krige (TWILIGHT OF THE ICE NYMPHS, BARFLY), Ron Perlman (HELLBOY, IN THE NAME OF THE ROSE), Glenn Shadix (HEATHERS, BEETLEJUICE), Mark Hamill (VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED, BODY BAGS). Cameos by Stephen King, Clive Barker, Tobe Hooper, Joe Dante, John Landis.
Tag-line: "They feast on your fear - and it's dinner time." That sounds about right.
Best one-liner: (stabs policeman in the ear with a pencil) "Cop-kabob!" Wowww.

Full of the silly, sloppy storytelling that typifies the collaborations between Mick Garris and Stephen King, SLEEPWALKERS still manages to be a pretty enjoyable experience. This thing is no SILVER BULLET or CREEPSHOW, but it's leaps and bounds above the (Garris) TV movies of THE STAND or THE SHINING. The plot is kind of a CAT PEOPLE/DRACULA mash-up involving incest, virgin sacrifice, morphing automobiles, powers of invisibility, and teenage romance. And we've got King taking that whole 50's Americana thing a bit too far, as always.


Gotta love the cat family portrait.

In the tradition of "General" from CAT'S EYE, we've got a damned likable housecat performance courtesy of "Sparks," who plays "Clovis."

"Sparks" is pretty solid, but he's nowhere near the thespian that "General" was in CAT'S EYE. I'm serious. Rewatch CAT'S EYE and tell me I'm wrong.


But the number one thing that makes this movie work is a little lady named Mädchen Amick (Shelly from TWIN PEAKS).

Her first appearance involves a really spazzy, impromptu, solo dance number worthy of Elaine Benes;

and, throughout the film, she exudes sheer pathos and an adorable magnetism. Generally, in a film of this kind, you couldn't give two shits about the damsel in distress- but here, Amick outshines both the colorful villains and bumpkin-style character actors- a true feat. There's bit parts by Ron Perlman (an a-hole state trooper), Mark Hamill (a stupefied cop),

Hamill + 'stache.

Glenn Shadix (a smug schoolteacher), and Stephen King (doing that whole yokel routine again).

Clive Barker doesn't have the heart to tell Stephen King that, though he's seen CREEPSHOW seven times, he's always fast-forwarded through the segment starring King as the plant-infected hillbilly.


Tobe Hooper comes face to face with what he might look like if he shaved the beard- and he's not sure he likes it.

There's a slew of horror cameos (Barker, Hooper, Dante, etc.), an overload of really cheap 'loud noise' scare stingers, perhaps the first (and last?) Mr. Pibb product placement, and an avenging army of pissed off cats.

Then there's the one-liners. Yeah, there are a lot, and boy, are they bad:

"I don't think you're getting into the spirit of this- why don't you think of yourself... AS LUNCH!"

Where things start to get iffy.

Then there's, "People should learn to keep their hands to themselves...HERE'S YOURS!"

And finally, after a corn cob impaling: "No vegetables- no dessert... those are the rules."

That's not even a one-liner! Plus, he ATE his vegetables!

Ah, well. Three stars.

-Sean Gill


2009 Halloween Countdown OVERFLOW

1. [•REC] (2007, Jaume Balagueró & Paco Plaza)
2. THE MANITOU (1978, William Girdler)
3. SLEEPWALKERS (1992, Mick Garris)
4.
...