DEMOLITION MAN
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1993 Scott Renshaw
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock. Screenplay: Daniel Waters and Robert Reneau & Peter M. Lenkov. Director: Marco Brambilla.
It would seem Sylvester Stallone has learned a lesson: give the people what they want. Sly wanted to expand into comedy, but he made bad choices and audiences stayed away in droves. So long STOP! OR MY MOM WILL SHOOT, hello CLIFFHANGER. The response--$75 million plus domestic grosses for CLIFFHANGER--was clear. Now the second coming of Sly the Action Hero brings us DEMOLITION MAN, and I expect it will do similarly big business, despite the fact that it's a bloated conglomeration of failed story elements and lead balloon punch lines.
DEMOLITION MAN opens in 1996 in crime-torn Los Angeles. Unorthodox cop John Spartan (Stallone) brings in psycho drug lord Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), but not before being held responsible for the deaths of several hostages. Both men are sentenced to cryonic imprisonment, where they are to be "reprogrammed" to mend their ways. Thirty-six years later, Los Angeles has merged with surrounding areas to become San Angeles, a blissful metropolis with strict behavioral regulations, free of virtually all crime. Phoenix escapes during a parole hearing, forcing a painfully unprepared police force to free Spartan. Teaming with an action-hungry female cop (Sandra Bullock), Spartan sets out to recapture Phoenix.
The main problem with DEMOLITION MAN is that I never bought its underlying premise for a moment. The screenplay makes virtually no effort to explain how the authorities of the 21st century were able to convince its mainstream populace to abandon sex, drinking, smoking and profanity. Even the idea that it was a radical response to a city turned into a warzone cannot explain the single generation transition. It's just a pax ex machina, and it doesn't work. If that were not enough, there is the further problem of a scattered storyline with too many plot threads. In addition to the basic adversarial conflict of Spartan and Phoenix, theres an obligatory love interest, a conspiracy headed by the respected architect of the peace (Nigel Hawthorne), Spartan's fish-out-of-water culture clash with his futuristic pacifist counterparts, and an underground movement (literally) led by comic Denis Leary. For an action film, DEMOLITION MAN never really gets up a head of steam, spending far too much screen time on superfluous subplots.
The fact is, at times DEMOLITON MAN seems more intent on being a satirical comedy than an adventure. Many of the gags are based on the requisite anachronisms, most notable a running string of malapropped 20th century cliches by Bullock which are true groaners. We also get references to Rambo (get it?) and the Schwarzenegger Presidential Library which seem like they're expected to be funny just because they're mentioned. Denis Leary also gets a ranting bit straight out of his stand-up routine for no apparent reason other than to give him something to say. There are times when the loopy sense of humor works, such as the rather incongruous skill programmed into Spartan. However, for every one clever bit there are five hammered into the ground like the gratingly repeated penalty buzzer every time a character swears. I actually began hoping for things to blow up; at least that was done well.
As for the acting, the less said the better. Snipes has perverse fun with Phoenix, but he's on screen far too little, and his character is reduced to cocky one-liners. Stallone is more personable than he's been in years, but he too has no character to speak of. Bullock does have a character, just no recognizable talent. Rob Schneider of "Saturday Night Live" has a funny bit part, but that's about all for bright spots.
DEMOLITION MAN is bound to appeal to some on a very basic level; there are great pyrotechnics, and the production design is impressive. But I found it wanting even as macho entertainment. Much of the action is uninspired, annoyingly photographed or badly edited, and even that action is too long in coming. DEMOLITION MAN is like that old joke about a bad restaurant: the food is awful... and such small portions.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 years cryo-sentence: 3.
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