The Dead Pool (1988)

 

You might feel lucky, punk, but maybe not really for this film.

See, Dirty Harry had really run its course and this isn't the best in the series. In fact, it is one of the lesser ones for a number of reasons. The lack of suspense, silly buildup and rushed finale don't do it any favours. 

It does come with an absolutely bonkers chase scene, though.

Harry Callahan is still an absolute badass and thanks to an arrest of a mob boss, he is now in the public eye as the perfect police officer. Of course, he hates the attention, but a PR-guy at the department wants to use him in order to make the force look good. Things heat up when a popular rockstar dies on a filmset thanks to an overdose. The director (a young Liam Neeson) is an absolute cock, so he doesn't really endear himself to anyone and in fact makes most people suspicious of him. We're also introduced to a female reporter whom Harry first dislikes and later on will grow fond of.

No, I have no idea how this shit works either. Somehow this film thinks that you have to be an ass to ladies in order for them to like you. 

It soon transpires that the director and several of his crew have what is called 'the dead pool', which is a list of celebrities of whom they think will die that year and bizarrely, nearly all on the director's list appear dead. Yes, this makes him the prime suspect, but Callahan quickly figures out that this is a red herring. So does every viewer, by the way. 

In the final act, it transpires that the real culprit is a disturbed fan of the director who has no real personality and thinks he is the director, sort of. It is explained in some throwaway lines and feels rushed, like a lot of things in this production. Shootout, oneliner, quip, the end.

So no, this isn't a very good film. It has some shootings and fisticuffs, but the editing is so frenetic, it's often hard to follow. Not a good start for an action flick. You can also tell Clint Eastwood was bored with the character, as he totally slums his way through the script. It is novel for some of the earliest roles for both Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey, but that is about it.

Oh, and the bonkers chase? It's when the killer wants to blow up Callahan in his car with a remote controlled toy car. What ensues is a chase through the streets of San Francisco, where a toy car can easily keep up with a real car FOR SEVERAL MILES. 

Must be some expensive batteries, damn.