Charmless, dim, and entirely unloveable action trash with an unsympathetic protagonist, a style-free script and a pair of non-actor leads . . . but what about its bad points?
Mainly, it lacks the sense of the ridiculous that makes many equally silly actioners (eg the Terminators, Die Hards, Lethal Weapons, etc) far more enjoyable. Any humour it possesses comes in the form of crude wisecracks and comedy violence, while it plays its puerile scenario and story-line with dog-faced seriousness. On the side of positive unpleasantness, much of the action appeals to sheer sadism - one sequence combines torture with a wet-lingerie show - and there's something not far from fascism in the way it assumes our unquestioning willingness to root for a government assassin.
None of this is helped by Geena Davis's perky, smug punchability or Samuel L Jackson's standard recreation of a groovy-black-perp supporting role from an old episode of Kojak, but better performances by more likeable players would have been a waste of talent and craft. That Long Kiss Goodnight died at the cinemas like a louse in a hobo's beard is the only remotely enjoyable thing about it - it suggests that it's still possible to lose money by insulting the public's intelligence.
Mainly, it lacks the sense of the ridiculous that makes many equally silly actioners (eg the Terminators, Die Hards, Lethal Weapons, etc) far more enjoyable. Any humour it possesses comes in the form of crude wisecracks and comedy violence, while it plays its puerile scenario and story-line with dog-faced seriousness. On the side of positive unpleasantness, much of the action appeals to sheer sadism - one sequence combines torture with a wet-lingerie show - and there's something not far from fascism in the way it assumes our unquestioning willingness to root for a government assassin.
None of this is helped by Geena Davis's perky, smug punchability or Samuel L Jackson's standard recreation of a groovy-black-perp supporting role from an old episode of Kojak, but better performances by more likeable players would have been a waste of talent and craft. That Long Kiss Goodnight died at the cinemas like a louse in a hobo's beard is the only remotely enjoyable thing about it - it suggests that it's still possible to lose money by insulting the public's intelligence.