Irresistible Force
       
Director: Kevin Hooks
Year: 1993
Rating: 6.0
Yet another Die Hard wannabe. I wonder how many there are in the world. Someone somewhere must be keeping track of that. For a TV film this isn't bad at all. They keep it to 80 minutes and don't waste much time getting to the Die Hard moments. A cop nearing retirement - which according to actuarial tables usually means his days are numbered - and his partner, right out of the Academy, find themselves in a shopping mall when it is taken over by a group of about 20 heavily armed White Supremacists with a lot of deadly nerve gas. I am still unsure what they wanted and what the plan was but they sure are baddies. The main issue with this being a TV movie back in 1993 is that they really have to tone down the body count. One of the pleasures of a Die Hard movie is seeing all the bad guys slowly get knocked off till only the psychotic leader is left. With White Supremacists that would especially be satisfying. Here though they all get knocked out. With martial arts. Which gives it a different look. 

 


The partner right out of the Academy is played by Cynthia Rothrock. She is like the Eveready Bunny. She already has six credits for 2024 and it is only the beginning of August. She is younger than me but not by a lot and still going strong. Me not so much. Stacy Keach is her partner and he tells his wife in the morning, I am getting a female partner who will not get us into trouble. He picks Rothrock on her first day. Turns out she was a Seal. Shit, you are in trouble. They come across three robbers in a car dealership and she goes in and breaks some bones. They get suspended because this is a TV movie. They go to the mall to shop and well, he gets stuck outside and she inside without a weapon and has only her hands and feet which is enough.  Rothrock is good in this film - smart-ass funny with a wicked backwards kick. A fairly lousy copy on YouTube.