Action Jackson

By Morpheus • May 22, 2005

Starring: Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, and Sharon Stone

Director: Craig R. Baxley

Writer(s): Robert Reneau

Studio: Warner Bros

Rating: R

Official Bar Score:

Detroit Police Sergeant Jericho “Action” Jackson, fittingly played by the eternally badass Carl Weathers, has a bit of a bad reputation as a reckless and dangerous man within the department. That reputation only gets worse when he finds himself hot on the trail of a Detroit City automobile magnate named Peter Dellaplane (Nelson) who Jackson suspects is systematically eliminating his competition, murdering his way into political power. In his investigation, Jackson ends up involved with Dellaplane’s fine-ass wife Patrice (Stone) and his strung-out singer mistress Sydney (Vanity). As he gets close, he ends up being framed up for a crime he didn’t commit, and he ends up being hunted down by his own fellow officers. So now Action must race against time to find the evidence he needs to put Dellaplane behind bars, and clear his own name, before it becomes too late.

This was a decent movie considering what it was, which was simply a decade-late attempt at recapturing some old blaxploitation glory. Weathers puts on a good performance, as is par for the course with him, as does Craiggers, but the rest of the cast left a bit to be desired. As far as action films go, this one was decent, but nothing spectacular. It is definitely worth seeing, as there are some great lines and a decent story involved, but it falls short of being great on anything it tries to accomplish. There are no special features at all on the DVD to increase its value either, so that is kind of a let down. However, you have to give it props just for having Carl Weathers as the lead, because he will forever be one of the greats. With a bit more effort in the action department, this could have been a whole lot better, but it is still a decent flick if you’ve got nothing else pressing to do. So finish up that six-pack, renew your Playboy subscription, take out the trash, then go and check out this flick. Coach + Apollo Creed = Decent Movie