An undistinguished action vehicle for Chuck Norris, this time playing a maverick cop (a real stretch for him) who has to battle a street war between rival drug dealers. What his movie lacks in an original plot it makes up for with an intelligent script which somewhat surprisingly focuses on characterisation instead of macho one-liners, and good pacing and direction from Andrew Davis, here cutting his teeth on the genre which would later serve him well in the likes of UNDER SIEGE.
Norris plays the typical tough-yet-likable hardman character he always seems to play, except that he's less reliant on the martial arts here. The physical fights that do ensue are generally unexciting and limp, the shoot-outs and gun battles more convincingly portrayed. Henry Silva (NICO: ABOVE THE LAW) is the chief villain, and is very good as per usual; there aren't many actors who manage to look as genuinely evil as Silva - except Christopher Walken perhaps. Dennis Farina appears in a minor role as a buddy of Norris, and the supporting cast are rounded out by passable actors and actresses who put in solid, if unmemorable, performances.
The movie draws in drug dealing and battles between rival gangs with a subplot involving police corruption, specifically an officer who accidentally shoots an innocent bystander. The various plot strands are woven together well, and there are a couple of set-pieces (like Norris taking on an entire bar) which certainly don't disappoint. The violent ending is predictable and pretty clichéd, but executed with a certain style. This is routine but solid stuff from Norris.
