I've had a liking towards this action title since I saw it in the early 90's and you're justified in perhaps wondering why. 'Excessive Force' is textbook definition of generic and obviously meant to be Thomas Ian Griffin's action movie breakout but then it flopped. However I enjoyed it's bursts of action, some memorable dialog and the many faces in the cast help bring home the seedy underground Chicago flavor.
Terry McCain (Griffin) is a cop who likes to play hard & loose with the rules and perps civil rights. When his unit does a drug raid on the mafia, 3 million dollars go missing and the court trial against head Italian mobster Sal DiMarco (Burt Young) gets throw out due to McCain's "excessive force" (hence the title) angering Captain Delvin (Lance Henriksen). Plus now DiMarco thinks the cops stole his money which caps off a war where they become targets and the ultimate question of who actually has the money is asked.
Griffith gets to fire off some guns and display the requisite mix of martial arts as he kicks the crap outta people and seeks a measure of revenge thru the pic. He carries his part out effectively but in a story which was written by him, he's saddled with some silliness of playing piano in a jazz bar owned by his friend Jake (James Earl Jones) for character development and he has a hot & cold relationship with his ex-gf (Charlotte Lewis).
Tony Todd - Mr. Candyman himself - is a hoot as one of Griffin's fellow cops Frankie who likes to gamble. Young is the mobster who goes from brutal one second to pathetically begging for his life the next. Jones and Lewis aren't given a whole lot to do but they provide color and possible betrayal suspects. Henriksen as the police superior, later chief of police is an all around scene stealer here particularly when he's given the chance to lay on some attitude in scenes with either Todd or Griffith.
'Excessive Force' is the kind of light fare action title that was so common on video store shelves in the 90's, but has some decent action, a few shallow twists & turns and a lot of bodies get shot up courtesy of mobsters incorporated and dirty cops r us. I can unhealthily quote way too many lines word for word. It had no right being this much fun and as you can see the supporting cast has a big part to do with it.
Terry McCain (Griffin) is a cop who likes to play hard & loose with the rules and perps civil rights. When his unit does a drug raid on the mafia, 3 million dollars go missing and the court trial against head Italian mobster Sal DiMarco (Burt Young) gets throw out due to McCain's "excessive force" (hence the title) angering Captain Delvin (Lance Henriksen). Plus now DiMarco thinks the cops stole his money which caps off a war where they become targets and the ultimate question of who actually has the money is asked.
Griffith gets to fire off some guns and display the requisite mix of martial arts as he kicks the crap outta people and seeks a measure of revenge thru the pic. He carries his part out effectively but in a story which was written by him, he's saddled with some silliness of playing piano in a jazz bar owned by his friend Jake (James Earl Jones) for character development and he has a hot & cold relationship with his ex-gf (Charlotte Lewis).
Tony Todd - Mr. Candyman himself - is a hoot as one of Griffin's fellow cops Frankie who likes to gamble. Young is the mobster who goes from brutal one second to pathetically begging for his life the next. Jones and Lewis aren't given a whole lot to do but they provide color and possible betrayal suspects. Henriksen as the police superior, later chief of police is an all around scene stealer here particularly when he's given the chance to lay on some attitude in scenes with either Todd or Griffith.
'Excessive Force' is the kind of light fare action title that was so common on video store shelves in the 90's, but has some decent action, a few shallow twists & turns and a lot of bodies get shot up courtesy of mobsters incorporated and dirty cops r us. I can unhealthily quote way too many lines word for word. It had no right being this much fun and as you can see the supporting cast has a big part to do with it.