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Blu-ray Review: “S.W.A.T.: Under Siege” Delivers Solid Action

[yasr_overall_rating]
 

A SWAT compound comes under fire from an international terrorist who relentlessly and violently pursues a mystery man who was apprehended by Seattle SWAT after a raid went horribly wrong.

“S.W.A.T.: Under Siege,” unlike its 2003 predecessor, which starred Colin Farrell, Samual. L. Jackson, Michelle Rodriguez, and LL Cool J, does not pay homage to the 1975 TV show of the same name. And that is fine with me. While the 2003 movie had some of the characters hum the TV show’s signature tune throughout the film, it felt a little too much, just having the name in the title would have sufficed. Since the 2003 iteration, there have been three standalone movies, including “S.W.A.T.: Under Siege” and a new TV show which premieres later this year and while I haven’t seen the previous two entries in the series, if this latest title is anything to go by, then it is a commendable, straight-to-DVD franchise that seems likely to continue and which will bring in new fans and viewers alike as the series continues.

It is July 4th and Travis Hall (Sam Jaeger) is enjoying the day off so he can spend it with his family but when he gets a call from his boss, he must begrudgingly make his way into work. As the leader of Seattle S.W.A.T., he and his team are sent to a shipping compound where they are told a drug cartel is trying to sneak an assortment of weapons and paraphernalia into the country. Once there, they come under attack but they quickly take control of the area. Upon further inspection, they do not locate any drugs or weapons but in one shipping container, they discover a man chained to the walls, who goes by the name Scorpion (Michael Jai White). They bring him back to their headquarters where they are told to keep him locked up in the basement by their supervisor, Ellen Dwyer (Adrianne Palicki) but wanting to know why some of his teammates were killed, and for what reason, Travis tries to talk to Scorpion. He informs Travis that some men pretending to be FBI will soon turn up, wanting to take him into custody but that they are not real feds. When this transpires, Travis gets into a fight with them, knocking them unconscious at which point Scorpion informs him that their lives are in danger.

Upon further questioning, Scorpion states that he is a spy and has damaging information on an international terrorist named Lars (Matthew Marsden), who has a number of federal agents in his pocket and that someone at their very location has given him their coordinates as they work for him too. It is only a matter of time before the compound is surrounded by a plethora of bad guys and it is up to Travis and his team, to protect Scorpion, if they are to find out who the mole on their team is, and why they have turned.

“S.W.A.T.: Under Siege” is better than most straight-to-DVD flicks and delivers top-notch action and some well-choreographed fight scenes. While Michael Jai White is most certainly showing his age, he still has the ability to decimate anybody who gets in his way. Because each entry in the “S.W.A.T.” series is a standalone movie, this opens up all sorts of possibilities to introducing new cities and characters, instead of having the same events happen to the same people over and over. If you like explosions and fight scenes, “S.W.A.T.: Under Siege” is right up your alley.

Now available on Blu-ray & DVD

 

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James McDonald

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, James is a Movie Critic with 40 years of experience in the film industry as an Award-Winning Filmmaker. He is also a member of the Critics Choice Association and the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association.