I'm a big fan of Sergio Martino, but it's quite clear that his main strength is in making Giallo's, not crime flicks. This genre is famous for high action sequences such as car chases and shootouts; but this film doesn't deliver that, preferring a more political standpoint and the results are disappointing. There's not a great deal of action in this film; despite some decent murder scenes early on, Silent Action soon becomes rather tedious as the story leans towards the central character uncovering a mystery and the mystery isn't all that exciting. The film starts by depicting the mysterious murders of various Government officials. The film then shows the central copper as he delves into the mystery, starting with finding a prostitute who is believed to be involved in the murder of an innocent man. However, the further he searches, the more it becomes apparent that the murders are all linked to a conspiracy that goes deeper than he first thought...
The film stars Luc Merenda, who gives a decent performance despite the film's shortcomings. Merenda is one of my favourite Polizi regulars, having seen him in a number of these films, you can always count on him to do a good job, and at least the film doesn't disappoint in that respect. However, Martino doesn't do a very good job when it comes the atmosphere or storytelling. For a film to move at this pace, the story really has be interesting, but it doesn't really manage to hold the audience's attention. We never really get a good feel for the "corruption" element of the story either, and when we start to realise how 'deep' it all goes, I just got the impression that it didn't really matter. Don't get me wrong, the film isn't all bad and it certainly has its moments; but I've come to expect more exciting films from this genre, and Silent Action just didn't live up to that. The best part of the film is the ending, though it's debatable as to whether or not it's actually worth waiting for, and again don't be expecting any action! Overall, I can't completely condemn this film; but I didn't like it much, and there are much better Italian crime flicks out there!
