S.W.A.T. 2003

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: One of those generic cop-slash-war movies of the Jerry Bruckheimer school -- where men are men and so are the women, where the hardware is fetishized. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: S.W.A.T. is a compendium of missed opportunities, uninspired action and cliches so tired, you wish the screenwriters had called 911. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: This film is proof you can make a pretty exciting cop movie based on a fairly lousy cop TV show. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: As summer popcorn movies go, you could do worse than S.W.A.T. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: A big, near-incoherent action thriller best suited for audiences who don't mind being pummeled into submission. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: S.W.A.T. is mostly standard-issue muddle. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: As summer shoot-'em-ups go, this is pretty well executed, with plenty of macho posing and gunfire. Read more

Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Good cop; bad cop. Bad TV show; bad movie. That about sums up S.W.A.T. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Those who love police overkill, guns, jingoistic race-baiting, guns, macho smugness, and guns will be well served. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Though the film's second half has some good action moments, it never fulfills the promise of its earliest scenes. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: An over-amped action film with just enough character shadings and color to make us wish it were better. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: One long adrenaline shot that never takes itself seriously and never pauses long enough to worry about making much sense. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Strictly standard issue. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: The way I watch this action thriller is as a field guide to perceived current audience tastes in casting, characters, and storytelling style. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: A fun way to kill two hours. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: A sexed-up recruitment movie that strains to do for cops what Baywatch did for lifeguards. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: A throbbing dose of high-testosterone schlock in which logic, credibility and characterization also are dispensable in the name of that all-consuming end: keeping things moving. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: There is something sneakily gratifying about all this. Read more

Bob Campbell, Newark Star-Ledger: Schlocky, slam-bang fun. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Fresher popcorn than most of the sequels that have come and gone. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A high-octane, brain-dead action picture that happens to feature cops as the characters. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A well-made police thriller. Read more

Charles Taylor, Salon.com: You can't get mad at it -- except for the two hours of your life it steals from you. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: SWAT is better than Gigli, but so is most outpatient surgery. Read more

David Edelstein, Slate: The director, a TV guy named Clark Johnson, doesn't shoot action very well, which is sort of a handicap. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: An outstanding pulp thriller. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: A film full of phony swagger and dialogue so awful you hope for once-distracting conversations to break out in the theatre around you. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: S.W.A.T. has blockbuster ambitions, but it develops characters and plot at a leisurely pace better suited to the small screen than the big one. Read more

Jessica Winter, Time Out: He high definition SWAT training footage resembles a US Army recruitment ad, appropriate since TV journeyman Johnson imagines downtown LA as an unpatrolled Baghdad, swarming with guntotin' mercenaries pursuing their share of the bounty. Read more

Mike Clark, USA Today: There have been far worse movies this summer, but the best justification for seeing this spinoff of the mid-'70s TV series is if your date or mate is holding you hostage in the theater. Read more

Robert Koehler, Variety: Director Clark Johnson strives for realistic detail and action. Unfortunately, such adherence to technical purity proves to be a weakness for the movie. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: A rigmarole of stranded cliches and thrill-free action-movie legerdemain. Read more