Since seeing this film I've never been comfortable with Denis Leary as a comedian because he's so damn convincing as the cold-hearted bad guy in this. I think he's a great actor but this is the movie to see him in as it's A. His best performance and B. One of the best villains ever in movies.
Leary plays Fallon, a dangerous criminal from Chicago's bad side. And when four middle class pals from the quiet suburbs cross him and witness a murder a chase across derelict landscapes follows. The spoon-fed quartet are way out of their comfort zone and have no idea how to navigate the ghetto or deal with its dwellers. Peter Greene, an actor always like to see, plays Sykes, one of Fallon's cohorts as well as Everlast from the rap group House of Pain as Rhodes. They sure do make a threatening impression.
Judgment Night kind of comes across as a modern, urban Deliverance. There are many similarities between them but Judgment Night clearly has more excitement. Estevez (who was cast very late after Tom Cruise and Christian Slater turned down the lead role), Gooding Jnr, Piven and Dorff play well off each other and Piven especially seems to really get into the whiny runt of his character. Though the editors really should have cut down the in-fighting and petty bickering between the quartet as it often slows the film down to a complete stop.
Director Stephen Hopkins (who also did Predator 2 and Blown Away) uses creeping camera movements and neo-noir lighting to provoke multiple eerie moments as well as a great deal of tension. Slow-mo and warped sound effects are also used to great effect in the finale. Alan Silvestri's score is also one of his best, alternating between several different moods. His first score (electronic based) was rejected by Hopkins but that difficult decision proved be a good judgment (ha!) as the end result is one of the film's best features.
Judgment Night is certainly an overlooked tour-de-force and is a brilliant action film with fine performances all round, but Leary completely and utterly steals the show.
