This movie had a lot going for it to start out with. Excellent setting of mood during the credits and a buildup of the main character. But it loses its way. It is obvious that Larry Drake can make a great bad guy (something every movie like this needs) but the screenplay ruins the role for him once the action starts. Before that he is actually a thoughtful, resourceful operator who works by intellect as well as brute strength. By the end he is just a brute and it turns out out that there is nothing there. You're expected to believe that he somehow takes out an entire swat team single handedly. And you never get to find out what his motivation was in all this.
This is the class of movie where every active character routinely does the worst possible thing for themselves. The police (except for the opening part) seem to know nothing about police procedure. Everyone -- even the bad guy! -- gratuitously maximizes the danger to themselves. It is too obvious.
They even blew Maggie's (Paulina Porizkova) "Ripley" moment, where she saddles up with cast aside hardware and wades back in to take on the bad guy because all the people who are supposed to be doing it are too stupid to do it.
And I thought Judd Nelson's career was in better shape than this. What is he doing taking on jobs like this? Maybe he owed someone a favor. His character at one point looks like it could be interesting, then fades like everything else in this movie.
Oh, well.
