Metro (1997)

“[On watching a foreign film] My eyes still hurt from reading that movie.” – Scott Roper

Number of Times Seen – Twice (15 Apr 2001 and 17 Feb 2020)

Brief Synopsis – A hostage negotiator must try and find a way to stop a jewel thief

My Take on it – In my quest to watch more Eddie Murphy films, I decided to rewatch this one since I didn’t recall anything in the nearly 19 years since I’d last seen it.

This is a generic 90’s action comedy that fails to do anything original with the story or characters and seems to just be going through the motions the whole way through.

Eddie Murphy is a great actor who has lots of charm and charisma and is known for his comedic antics in his films.

Unfortunately, this film doesn’t allow him to shine at all and that has much to do with the fact that this character is much less enjoyable to watch than Axel Foley who was the character that helped establish him as a wise cracking police officer.

This takes so much away from what would expect from this kind of story.

The plot is pretty much paint by numbers and doesn’t manage to find any way of seeming original or fresh along the way.

The pacing is done nicely but it isn’t able to keep things feeling more suspenseful and that causes it all to feel too predictable and bland from start to finish which is a really big problem.

Loved seeing Art Evans in a supporting role even if his character has only a small yet significant part here.

Bottom Line – Typical action comedy from the 90’s that comes across as being quite mediocre. Even Murphy’s charm and antics don’t help elevate this to a worthwhile watch. The plot is quite unoriginal and moves along at a decent yet fascinating way which takes away from any kind of real suspense here and makes this all seem quite bland from start to finish. Fun seeing Evans in a small yet significant role because he is so enjoyable to watch in whatever he does.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – This was originally meant to star Harrison Ford. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)