Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410280035
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The script is constructed in a curious way so they are almost never on screen together. When they do get together for their one big love scene, the result is fairly graphic and artfully staged. But it has all the erotic excitement of a cold puddle of water. As is so often the case with this kind of star vehicle, the supporting cast steals the show.
Stallone is Ray Quick, a Miami explosives expert, or, in the words of evil Latino gangster Joe Leon (Rod Steiger), "an esposis esperr." Back in his CIA days, Ray was the partner of Ned Trent (James Woods). Now they hate each other and Ned is head of security for the Leon family, though he doesn't get along with son Tomas (Eric Roberts) who's deeply in lust with May Munro (Sharon Stone). But she's actually trying to hire Ray to blow up the Leons because they killed her momma and daddy years before. Or, at least that's what Ray thinks, but she's really working for...
Oh, never mind. Nobody who worked on this turkey seems to have cared about the stupid story and they were right. It's just a poor excuse to blow up lots of stuff. With the exception of an inventive hotel sequence, there's nothing new in the pyrotechnics. They don't measure up to the level set by the various "Lethal Weapon" movies.
The best scene in the film is Woods' taking over the bomb squad. It ranks right up there with Eddie Murphy in the redneck bar in "48 HRS." Unfortunately, nothing else in this film comes close to it.
Overall, director Luis Llosa handles the action smoothly enough, but it's all pointlessly derivative. And if everything seems strangely familiar to some viewers, it may be because composer John Barry recycled his own scores from several James Bond movies for the background music.
It's so blatant that at some moments you almost expect to see Sean Connery saunter around the corner. You should be so lucky.
The Specialist
* 1/2
A Warner Bros. release playing at the Salem Valley 8, Valley View Mall 6. 108 min. Rated R for strong language, violence, nudity, sexual content.
by CNB