"Rome Armed to the Teeth" actually just confirmed something I already knew, but it was a more than welcome reminder. Umberto Lenzi was a genius (or better, IS a genius as he's still alive only no longer active for obvious reasons) and with this film he delivered another high-speed, adrenalin-rushing, mega-violent, hyper-brutal and ultra-demented Poliziottesco masterpiece! I admit I'm biased regarding the director and the genre, but this is unquestionably the most fun any movie can possibly offer. The plot is standard and the characters are stereotypical, but the action moves forward like a derailed train and something new & exciting happens approximately every one and a half minutes. And would you just look at that cast! The top of the contemporary Italian cult-industry is gathered here, including the impressively mustached Maurizio Merli, the naturally uncanny looking Ivan Rassimov and my personal favorite the multi versatile Tomas Milian in another formidably villainous role. Merli embodies everything the cinematic 70's copper stands for; reckless, stubborn, vengeful, disobedient towards his supervisors and, most of all, sick & tired of apprehending criminals only to see them terrorize the street again a couple of hours later. The first fifteen minutes or so perfectly illustrate how Commissioner Leo Tanzi struggles: his superiors are only concerned about the police's image in the media, his psychologist girlfriend disapproves his harsh methods and claims criminals should be helped instead of arrested and spoiled, self-confident thugs openly laugh in his face. And so Tanzi creates his very own one-man special brigade, with a little help and sympathy from his friends at the force. His main occupation is to exterminate an organized gang of armed bank robbers, led by the hunchback super criminal Il Gobbo, but in his spare time (which is often just when he drives from one crime scene to another) he makes a clean sweep of underage purse-snatchers, youthful serial rapists and drug-dealing pimps. "Rome Armed to the Teeth" guarantees 100% excitement, with plenty of wild car chases, shoot-first-ask-questions-later spectacle, and testosterone-packed dialogs. Franco Micalizzi's score is terrific, Frederico Zanni's camera-work is often dazzlingly fast and the gifted filmmaker he was Umberto Lenzi stuffs his film with ingenious little gimmicks and details, like the opening credits from a criminal's point of view, spotting potential heist targets. The actors are great. It is said that Maurizio Merli and Tomas Milian couldn't possibly get along in real life. This might have resulted in unpleasant days on the filming sets, but on the screen their 'vendetta' definitely assures an even more convincing good vs. bad chemistry. Magnificent film, highly recommended in case you can stomach a lot of brutal violence.
Review of The Tough Ones
