S.W.A.T.

Clark Johnson's big-screen adaptation of the 1970s television series S.W.A.T. stars Colin Farrell as Jim Street, a young special weapons and tactics team member who, in the film's opening sequence, is demoted after his hothead partner Jeremy Renner shoots a hostage while trying to kill her captor. ...more

S.W.A.T. adheres closely to the conventions of police-action films. That helps the film during its first half. The filmmakers understand what the characters have to do and so they are relaxed enough to give the cops flashes of real personality. Colin Farrell and Michelle Rodriguez have some genuine chemistry and they easily earn the audience's goodwill; Samuel L. Jackson is his usual engaging self; and Josh Charles registers with very little screen time. Sadly, when the admittedly brilliant ...more