Overrated and overhyped

Fresh and Exciting

A Masterpiece!

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

"The Dead Pool" is the fifth and final Dirty Harry movie. While the film has more than a few silly moments, it manages to entertain and also not be so terribly sleazy and dark as the previous outing, "Sudden Impact". This previous film, in my opinion, marks the absolute lowest point for the franchise...and at least "The Dead Pool" is an improvement.The plot is a bit overly complicated for such a short film. There's a celebrity dead pool list, a crazed psychopath as well as an angry mob boss to contend with...and it somehow manages to pack it all into the movie. The film has some interesting and likable characters, such as Harry's new partner as well as a reporter Harry initially hates...of course, Harry pretty much hates everybody so this shouldn't come as any surprise.The bottom line is that the movie is enjoyable to watch and although violent (what Dirty Harry movie isn't???), it is less gross and slimy that I expected based on the previous film. Sadly, despite this, the movie did not do all that well at the box office.

RELEASED IN 1988 and directed by Buddy Van Horn, "The Dead Pool" stars Clint Eastwood as a no-nonsense San Francisco detective who tracks down a serial killer linked to a horror film production directed by horror maestro Peter Swan (Liam Neeson). Patricia Clarkson plays a pesky TV reporter turned romantic interest while Evan C. Kim appears as Harry's new Asian partner. David Hunt is also on hand.I'm a fan of all five of the Dirty Harry films, which are as follows: "Dirty Harry" (1971), "Magnum Force" (1973), "The Enforcer" (1976), "Sudden Impact" (1983) and "The Dead Pool" (1988)."Magnum Force" is my favorite, a rare case where the sequel is superior to the original, while the first film is my least preferred, although I still like it. I just think the stories in the four sequels have more story drive and better characters. "Dirty Harry" seems languid and hollow by comparison, but it gets points for being the original film and establishing the series."The Dead Pool" is pretty much on par with "The Enforcer" and "Sudden Impact." The highlights include: The horror movie production angle with Neeson as the eccentric, fireball director; Clarkson's hotness; the kick-axx Asian partner; a couple of cameos by the original Guns n' Roses; and, most of all, the amusing toy car chase through the streets of San Francisco, which is an homage/spoof of the car chase in "Bullitt" (1968). Unfortunately, the climax with the killer is curiously dull, albeit serviceable.THE FILM RUNS 91 minutes and was shot in San Francisco, California. THE SCRIPT was written by Steve Sharon from the story by Sharon, Durk Pearson & Sandy Shaw.GRADE: B

This is the fourth and last sequel to Dirty Harry, where Inspector Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) finds himself on a list of a betting game thought up by filmmaker Peter Swan (Liam Neeson). The game's object is to see which local celebrity would be the first to die.Eastwood continues his justice-seeking and sarcastically witty portrayal of Callahan and delivered some great gun-totting action, never-say-die attitude and humorous one-liners that kept me laughing and engaged at the same time. The random crimes foiled by Callahan continue to pop up within the main plot and kept the movie interesting and fast-paced. Jack N. Green gave us a nice cinematographic view of San Francisco and Buddy Van Horn directed a movie with a solid cast. I especially liked the chemistry between Eastwood and Patricia Clarkson and liked seeing the appearances of Liam Neesom and Jim Carrey in one of their earlier film roles.In addition, Callahan pairs up with new partner Al Quan (Evan C. Kim), which I thought is one of the better pairings as Quan had good rapport with Callahan and seemed to be more engaged on his mission and ***spoiler ahead*** ultimately having a better fate toward the end of the movie than previous counterparts. ***spoiler ends*** I also liked Quan's martial arts sequence during the restaurant scene.While the plot has lesser surprises, it is still a fun movie with some occasional unique scenes (the toy race car scene) popping up throughout the story. A fitting end to the Dirty Harry trilogy.Grade B+

"Dirty Harry" Callahan (Clint Eastwood) is publicly credited with putting mob boss Lou Janero in prison. He is put on a list, the Dead Pool. He is ambushed and Callahan kills a bunch of bad guys. He's assigned a new partner Al Quan (Evan Kim) to watch his back. Rock star Johnny Squares (Jim Carrey) is a drug-addicted drunken mess and he is murdered while on a video shoot directed by Peter Swan (Liam Neeson). After shooting a bunch of stickup guys at a Chinese restaurant, Harry finds a list of names including his and Johnny Squares'. Reporter Samantha Walker (Patricia Clarkson) breaks the news of the Dead Pool which Swan participates in. He goes out with Samantha and is ambushed once again. A man claiming to be Swan kills movie critic Molly Fisher who is on Swan's list. The killer uses remote control cars to blow up people including an attempt on Harry.Dirty Harry turns into something campy. It starts with Jim Carrey as a rock star. Harry is shooting every bad guy in this thing. Then the killer uses a remote control car in one of the sillier car chases in the streets of San Francisco. Finally the killer turns out to be a random crazy Swan fan and Harry shoots him with a harpoon. If this was any other character, I would laugh. This is Dirty Harry and that allows some shoot 'em up fun.