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Directed by: Walter Hill Starring: Bill Paxton, Ice T, Ice Cube, William Sadler Upon initial inspection, this might seem to be just another shoot-em-up gangsta film that was shot in the 90s with a mid range budget, a mid range cast and a low-end script. Not the case. Trespass is an effective 'siege' style conflict movie with a lot of surprisingly good acting performances, particularly by William Sadler and Ice Cube. William Sadler and Bill Paxton play two firefighters from Arkansas who have an old map fall into their hands while trying to save an old man from a burning building. The map and accompanying newspaper clippings lead Sadler and Paxton to believe that they may be holding the key to the location of church artifacts made of pure gold and stolen in the 1940's. Deciding that they had nothing to lose by going after it, they drive up to east St. Louis and decide to check it out. This is one of those movies where there's 5 minutes or so of scattered exposition and then the rest of the movie takes place in one location, such as can be found in Under Siege and its sequel, Alive, and others. About ten minutes in to the movie it becomes very tense, and it doesn't ease up for about an hour. It's remarkably good back and forth between the two Arkansas firemen and King James' (Ice T's) gang, who have the firemen holed up in an abandoned apartment. Bill Paxton and William Sadler juggle the concerns of a hostage, the million+ dollars worth of gold, a sarcastic hobo caught in the middle of the action, and trying to escape with their lives. The action takes place in a decrepit apartment complex straight out of a post-apocalyptic wasteland. It makes a great setting for the action...both are dangerous, dirty and unyeilding. The dialogue is average at best, but the action and story are pretty good. Turning in a good performance is Ice Cube as a thoroughly dislikable gang member (for a change  ) and William Sadler as an uncharismatic, unsympathetic southern fireman.There are a few amusing gimmicks in this film: Art Evans plays a hobo who lives in the run-down apartment complex where the action takes place and has a bunch of snide commentary for our two clunky, southern white protagonists, King James has a 'business' assosciate who keeps calling him on a cell phone in the middle of gunfights, and Bruce A. Young is Raymond, a pimp in a teal suit/fedora combo. Bonus points for this movie for the following: 1)Tom "Tiny" Lister as Random Thug #5 2)Only movie ever made with both Ice T and Ice Cube! Twice the Ice! Half the price! Nice! 3)OK I'm not gay, but I'd totally suck the dick of Stoney Jackson, Ice T's right hand man. He's HOT. 4)Written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis(Forrest Gump, Back to the Future) 5)Hanging! Shooting! Clubbing! Falling! Stabbing! Burning! Something for everyone! This isn't a movie you should watch if you're wanting an outstanding cinematic experience. This a movie for when you're in a gangsa/shoot-em-up mood. If you watch it without any expectations, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. RATING: 3.5 PROS: Surprisingly tense, well-acted, decent script and story, great setting. CONS: Predictable, trite characters, silly ending. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105636/ Morty the Mad fucked around with this message at 04:24 on Jul 2, 2004 |
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Jul 2, 2004 04:22
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