Oh man! I sure love those macho action films from the eighties! The master of this kind of film is of course Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of his best followers is Carl Weathers, the star of this film. In this kind of film, the plot ain’t important. Here, Jericho Jackson, sergeant for Detroit police, is after a rich auto executive. Of course, he has a sexy girl with him to whom he can talk about his investigation. There are also lots of cool bad guys. What’s great about these films is the machismo; in a film like that, a guy can run faster than a car, he can break a windshield with his fist, and he doesn’t care about pain. And, of course, if he’s in a showdown with his nemesis, he’ll drop his gun and fight that punk mano a mano!
Now, let’s talk about this movie in particular. The direction is very good and the action is fast. The music is excellent: I love 80s pop music ! The theme song is especially powerful. The cast is also brilliant for the genre: Weathers, Bill Duke, that Chinese guy, that big black guy, that Italian fella… The action scenes are very cool. But the best thing about this film is the main character : ACTION JACKSON! He’s almost as cool as John Shaft! He talks fast and he kicks ass, big time! I laugh every time someone says his name. One of the best example of this is when he meets the girl.
“What’s your name?”
“Jericho.”
“That sounds like a priest’s name… you have a nickname?”
“Yeah… People call me ACTION JACKSON!”
If you like testosterone, don’t miss this film!
Title: Action Jackson
Year: 1988
Director: Craig R. Baxley