METRO (PG-13)
Director: Thomas Carter
Stars: Eddie Murphy, Micheal Wincott, Michael Rapaport, Carmen Ejogo, Art
Evans, Kim Miyori, Donal Logue, Denis Arndt, Paul Ben-Victor
Running Time: 105 minutes
San Francisco has only just recovered from being held hostage in the exciting and credibility stretching thriller The Rock when
its hilly streets take another cinematic battering in Eddie Murphy's latest film, Metro. This undeniably exciting but somewhat
formulaic action thriller heralds a welcome return to the harder edged material of earlier films like Beverly Hills Cop and 48
Hours for Murphy, who is obviously trying to resurrect his stalled career after the failure of the blatantly misogynist, narcissistic
and self-indulgent comedies of recent years.
Here Murphy plays Scott Roper, a cocky hostage negotiator for the police department, who attempts to defuse delicate life
threatening situations before the more gung-ho SWAT team move in and cause unnecessary bloodshed. When his former
partner is fatally stabbed after questioning Michael Korda (Michael Wincott, from The Crow, etc), a suspected jewel fence,
Roper finds himself lumbered with training a new partner, the clean cut Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport), a hot shot SWAT
sniper. After the pair foil a jewellery robbery carefully planned by Korda, Roper finds himself involved in a lethal cat and
mouse game with the vicious psychopath, who harbours a grudge. Driven by a thirst for vengeance, Korda manages to escape
from prison and turns Roper's personal life into a nightmare by threatening his reporter girl friend (Carmen Ejogo).
Randy Feldman, who scripted Tango And Cash, certainly has a knack for writing physically punishing and tough action films,
and while this formulaic thriller offers little that is new, it certainly won't disappoint fans of the genre. Director Thomas Carter
(the little seen Swing Kids) also maintains a furious pace throughout with little let up, although there are a few pauses to allow
for some character development and rudimentary plot exposition. There is an undeniable air of familiarity about the material,
but Carter suffuses it with lots of energy, especially when he takes the action out into the streets of San Francisco for an
exciting, adrenaline charged extended car chase sequence that climaxes with a cable car careering out of control. Although it
does require some suspension of disbelief, this sequence is brilliantly staged and convincingly done, one of the best of its type
in recent memory, causing even more mayhem and wanton destruction than the similar chase in The Rock. Steve Porcaro,
former keyboard player with Toto, contributes a driving music score that adds to the atmosphere and enhances the action.
Murphy is less grating here and his role gives him little time to fire off the trademark quick one-liners and insults. Wincott
makes a suitably nasty villain, although his performance is one dimensional and lacking any real depth, while rising young star
Rapaport, from Beautiful Girls, etc, is given little of real consequence to do in a very thin and underwritten role.