An Oldie but Goodie : Demolition Man Review

So, I was bored this afternoon and decided to go fishing through my Netflix queue and came across a film I had always meant to watch but never made the time for, Demeolition Man.  

I am, what I would call, a casual Sly Stallone fan.  I haven’t seen many of his films, outside of the Rocky films which I find brilliant, (well, except for 5 really) but I have always heard this is one of his better movies.

Quite simply, Demolition Man is everything I heard it was.  There’s action galore of course, but what really surprised me about the film was how funny it was.  I don’t want to go through and explain the plot of the film, that’s what search engines are for, but I will say that it’s often very hard to find a film that is able to balance both action and humor at the same time.  Sometimes, all a film needs to provide are some explosions and some great one-liners and this film has both in spades.

I’d heard that Wesley Snipes is about as close as you can get to The Joker in The Dark Knight here, but I didn’t get that vibe from him.  Sure, he’s all about causing havoc, and he does seem to react with no regard for consequences, but I never got that sinister feel the way I did with Joker. Not to say he wasn’t good, I totally bought that Stallone was the only guy capable of bringing him down.  The chemistry between the two is what really sells the film.  

Sandra Bullock is here mostly to provide comic relief, which is alright by me.  Her fascination with late 20^th century culture leads to quite a few hilarious lines, as she can never get her point across quite right.  There is also a “sex” scene which is among the strangest things I’ve ever seen in a movie.  I believe Stallone’s facial expressions here were what led to the invention of screencaps. 

Demolition Man is not a perfect film by any means but for a fun romp that doesn’t take it self seriously and one that is still able to make you think, you can’t find one better.