Today’s quick review: Officer Downe. Officer Gable (Tyler Ross), a rookie with the LAPD, receives the challenge of his career when he is assigned as backup for Officer Downe (Kim Coates), an indestructible supercop. Unlike his colleagues, Gable sees Downe as more than just a killing machine. But his faith in Downe is put to the test when the Fortune 500, the eccentric cabal atop LA’s criminal hierarchy, takes drastic measures to stop Downe for good.
Officer Downe is a stylized action movie with an over-the-top attitude and a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Officer Downe is the action movie ideal taken to its illogical conclusion. The movie celebrates an exaggerated, brutal form of justice, enacted by tough-as-nails police officers against a flamboyant, violent, and unrepentant criminal class.
Officer Downe’s style is not for everyone, or even for most. The movie is packed with excessive swearing, plentiful gore, and crude sexual moments. The villains are cartoonish and unhinged, and Downe himself is little better. Officer Downe aims for a very particular aesthetic, one that skirts the boundaries of good taste to tap into the distorted excess at the far end of the action genre.
Whether it hits its mark is an open question. Officer Downe lacks the quality of execution to sell its skewed vision the way movies like Kill Bill or Sin City do. Its inventions are striking but superficial; its cinematography is far from brilliant; and what emotional weight it has rests on the flimsy shoulders of Officer Gable. But the movie embraces its punchy attitude like few others, and it makes for a strangely entertaining watch.
Officer Downe makes for an entertaining, peculiar, and almost unique watch for the right kind of viewer. Officer Downe offers a specific kind of schlock that will appeal to some and utterly fail to impress most others. Skip it if you are looking for exceptional action, a compelling story, or restraint. Movies that go to similarly absurd extremes include Kung Pow: Enter the Fist, The Spirit, and The Man with the Iron Fists.
4.1 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 for flawed execution of a ridiculous vision; your score will vary drastically depending on your tastes.