Synopsis:
Gene Hackman meets Trainspotting in France.
Review:
You can divvy things up into two halves:
1) Gene Hackman is forcibly addicted to smack and made to quit cold after being dumped for dead with a hotshot.
2) Gene Hackman and the least well equipped narcotics squad in the history of western Europe get into shootouts with drug dealers.
The former probably cost about $50K to shoot and Gene chews that scenery so thoroughly it looks like mostly digested pulp by the time he's done spitting it up. It drags like a motherfucker in a number of places before you realize that Popeye Doyle without sidekick/foil Roy Scheider can get really, really boring. Even Dirty Harry had semi-interesting partners, unlike the generic Eurotrash froggy supporting cast that Gene got stuck with here.
I assume the second half, with all the effects, blanks, explosions, fake blood, car chases, etc., took up the rest of the budget. Since they didn't want to make "greatest car-train chase ever 2.0," the director decided to ante up with a foot chase that ends in the most abrupt way imaginable. Secondly, you can't help but notice that the frogs are bringing snub nose revolvers to machine gun fights. Wtf? No kevlar, no shields, no body armour, just (I think they kind of resembled) S&W 38 specials?
Verdict:
A better sequel than it has a right to be. Worth checking, if only for closure to the masterful original.
The French Connection II
The French Connection II
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."