User reviews

Metro appears to be a low-budget action affair, which whilst it has nothing new to offer, shows us a different side to Eddie Murphy as an actor that we hadn't seen before in his previous films. People have in the past often compared this to Beverly Hills Cop 1, in terms of the fact that they are both your typical, run- of- the- mill cop movies, but the comparisons seem to come to an end when you compare that film to Metro, in terms of plot, character types and the fact that Eddie Murphy doesn't joke about as negotiator/cop Scott Roaper that often. Not like his predecessor, Axel Foley. Here, as Roaper he is much more serious and not as laid back in contrast to his most famous movie character. Metro plays out as a straight out action movie that isn't reliant on laughs, which in itself is no bad thing. One of the main problems that some of the audiences had, in regards to their expectations of Metro, was by assuming that it would be something similar on the lines of Beverly Hills Cop. It has its funny moments, but these are few and far between throughout the film, as the narrative in Metro is very much serious and the standard cop thriller we'd come to expect.

Overall, Metro is not a bad effort and the action sequences are well executed. Murphy gives a surprising turn and performance as Roaper and thus it makes a change to see him in an almost completely non-comedic role, which he does well in.

Not bad indeed.

Metro, starring Eddie Murphy, may well be worth your viewing time. Yes it got a fair amount of negative reviews from people who wanted to see another "Nutty Professor" or thought of "Metro" as Murphy trying to play Axel Foley again. Others had problems with the script, the plot, the pace of the film, but nobody cared to mention how good Murphy actually is in this. His character is a San Francisco hostage negotiator, named Scott Roper, who one day meets his worst enemy in a jewel thief (played wonderfully by Michael Wincott) who makes his job a nightmare. From that point on a cat & mouse chase between Murphy & Wincott develops, & plays it's part in a rather amusing way. I don't want to give a lecture here on this subject, because movies like "Metro" are just made to entertain the viewer. "Metro" is a solid action film, with some suspense, some great stunts, and very good performances from the whole cast. Murphy, in what I think is one of his better roles, gives us his comedic touch, but this is more of a dramatic, serious role for him. I saw not Murphy, but Scott Roper, throughout the whole movie. A sure sign that an actor is doing his job quite well! - Murphy is superb.

For the first hour of this film all I could think of was how average it was, I even had an average review written in my head for it. However, there are certain scenes, thrills and aspects - e.g. the ending predicament that are actually pretty good and will throw you.

Eddie Murphy plays a 'wisecracking' hostage negotiator, although tbh he's very much the 'serious' Eddie Murphy for most of the film. I prefer the fun Beverly Hills Cop guy, but there we go. There is a scene where he's talking about being in a thong and being seen by his mother's friends that is hilarious though. Plot-wise he basically gets on the wrong side of some nutter and his cousin and they conspire to make life hell for him and his English girlfriend. The female lead is a tad weak in this, and I must admit I've never ever heard of her (although I was 7 when this film came out - maybe she was big then) but she looked good - Carmen Ejogo she is.

Michael Rapaport is in this as well, as an intelligent sniper who is paired up with Murphy. Now I thought, judging by the cover etc, this was gonna be a buddy cop movie but Rapaport (an actor I like) is underused really. Don't get me wrong he's in the film a fair bit but his character has next to no personality. All I learnt was he's polite, sharp, from the Swat team and is a sniper. That's it. The film could have been done without his character if they wanted to save whatever fee he commanded.

Whoever plays Eddie Murphy and Carme Ejogo's dog is good in this though. Stellar, powerhouse performance reminded me of Hanks in The Green Mile or Orson Welles in Citizen Kane.

So yeah, mixed bag really - there's hate for post-80s Murphy films sure, but this is one of the better ones. It's a solid watch (on netflix atm) and there's some good action and the bad guy is easy to hate, so there's a lot worse out there. I won't strongly recommend but I'll say it's worth a shot - you know what you're going to get.

Scott Roper is a wise cracking hostage negotiator, he is however exceptionally good at his job. After bringing down a particularly nasty bank robber called Michael Korda, he sets about winning his old girlfriend back whilst breaking in a new partner, Kevin McCall. When Korda escapes from prison there is only one thing on his mind, revenge, can Roper outwit Korda once again? And if so, at what cost?

There has always seemed to me to be something of a negative bias towards post 1980s Eddie Murphy (Roper) films, it appears that no matter what, nothing that comes close to his best 80s efforts will ever be deemed worthy. Now I'm not saying that Metro is a world beater, or even close to Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places, but it's an accomplished thriller with classy bits of Murphy humour thrown in. It also boasts splendid support from Michael Rapaport as Roper's intelligent partner McCall, both men playing off each other to good effect, while Michael Wincott with his gravel voice used to full effect, is impressively devilish as the bad guy of the piece. Let down by a weak female lead in Carmen Ejogo, and certainly the familiarity of the genre loses the film any real sense of impending dread, but for a quick fix of nonsense entertainment on a blustery cold night, it's a more than OK viewing. 6/10

Eddie Murphy plays a hostage negotiator in San Francisco, he lives a dangerous life, but he still thinks it´s pretty okay. One thing he doesn´t think is okay is when his friends gets killed. But that is just what happens, his best friend is murdered by an evil jewel-thief, and now Murphy wants revenge.

The plot in "Metro" did not really impress me when I heard about it. Eddie Murphy as a comical hostage negotiator... It sounds pretty corny to me, but it was actually not as bad as it first seemed. The action scenes are well made, especially the breath taking car chases down the steep streets of San Francisco.

But I can´t really say the movie was good. The plot is not very original, this could actually have been titled "Beverly Hills Cop 4" and no one would have noticed. Between the action scenes there aren´t very much to write home about. Murphy is occasionally funny, but he can be really annoying too.

The best thing in "Metro" is definitely the villain, played by the underrated Michael Wincott. He is truly the perfect bad guy. That rasping voice, that glance in his eyes, wow! He can make even the simplest villain into a terrifying monster, which he should be highly praised for. And I wonder if not this guy holds the record in movie-deaths? I´ve seen Wincott in about ten movies, and he gets to meet his maker in all of them! I almost feel sorry for him, but I don´t think he´s complaining too much. If he dies in "Metro" or not, I´ll let you figure out for yourself.

Back to "Metro" now. If you don´t expect any clever ideas, just some good action sequences with a silly plot, it´s not that bad. But on the other hand, not that good either.

* * ½ out of * * * * *

Scott Roper (Eddie Murphy) is the best hostage negotiator in the San Francisco Police Department. After rescuing hostages in a bank, he's given new partner Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport) to train to take over. His recently broken up girlfriend Veronica Tate (Carmen Ejogo) is a newspaper reporter. His best friend Lieutenant Sam Baffert is investigating jewel thief Michael Korda (Michael Wincott) and is killed by him. Scott wants revenge but Captain Frank Solis is keeping him out of the investigation.

Eddie Murphy is playing a loud-mouth police detective except he's not wisecracking funny like Axel Foley. He seems to have lost some of his comedic luster of his earlier work. Also Eddie is trying to go darker in this one. Michael Rapaport is basically playing the same kind of character but they don't have the best chemistry. The problem is that the script lacks intensity or sharpness. Eddie doesn't have quite the personality for this type of police drama either. The movie does have an extended car chase through the hills of SF which has some fun carnage.

It doesn't always work, and Eddie Murphy is no substitute for a proper action star like Stallone or Mel Gibson, but at least he tries in this film. Metro has a clichéd plot about a diamond smuggler who murders Eddie's partner and it is Eddie's job to stop him, but Eddie does a great job and actually looks like he enjoys the role. He juggles the action and comedy scenes perfectly, and fortunately the two never overlap. The highlight of the film is the runaway tram scene, that is perfectly choreographed, and Michael Rapaport does a great job as Murphy's rookie partner. The film is not the best action movie around, but it is by no means the worst, and if you feel like being entertained for an evening, you could do a lot worse than this movie.

This police action film might have been rated higher by me but for overdone violence and use of the f-word. Neither one normally offends unless they are ridiculously excessive, and that's the case here.

The action gets to be too much by the second half of this film and by the end, it's gotten ludicrous, and all the f-words aren't necessary. Eddie Murphy plays his normal wise-cracking, ladies man, macho man, etc. He's a funny, talented guy but he - or his writers - don't know when to tone his act down.

Michael Wincott is the attraction of this film as the vicious killer with that distinctive voice of his. However, credibility wanes a bit as Wincott seems to have three live. He's almost impossible to kill! Michael Rapaport, meanwhile, plays an unusually subdued and appealing role for him.

As for that action, the best scene involved the runaway cable car. That was awesome, and a scene I'd like to see again. I wish I could say the same for the whole film.

Eddie Murphy tries to act serious as well as funny as Detective Scott Roper, and he actually carries it off rather well. Wanting revenge for his partner's death, he's led on a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with Michael Wincott, who will not let him win easily...

The main highlights of Metro are a thrilling car chase sequence and the explosive ending! This is not the best film I have ever seen, but Wincott is immensely good as criminal Korda, displaying an almost never-ending desire to bring Roper down, even if it means double murder....

Metro is a fast-paced thrilling (and funny) movie from start to finish containing many startling and cunning plots that may seem a little odd at first but smoothing out to a satisfactory conclusion. I can definitely understand why it was a huge success at the box-office: it is very enjoyable!

Metro is a classic cop action thriller that sells itself on the gimmick of a movie about a hostage negotiator of the San Francisco Police Department. The movie initially takes full advantage of such a premise by putting our lead character, Scott Roper (Eddie Murphy), in the middle of a botched bank robbery where he needs to act quickly to save the civilians in danger and bring order to chaos. However, if you expect a movie similar to the following year's The Negotiator and see Murphy show his acting chops by engaging the bad guys in expertly written game of wits, you may be disappointed to learn that Metro doesn't concern itself with clever conflict resolution. Instead, our hero cop goes for a more blunt approach by shooting the bad guy and recklessly putting the hostages at risk. Is that the proper police procedure in a situation like this?

Once the opening negotiation scene is over, the movie quickly transitions into a more traditional action thriller, with Murphy's character chasing the killer maniac around the city. All the while showing the ropes of hostage negotiation work to a newly partnered rookie sidekick (Michael Rapaport). This leads into a handful of amusing scenes between the duo, and it made me wish to see both actors interact more on screen, as they have decent chemistry together. Unfortunately, their relationship isn't as much of a focus in this movie as it usually is in more prominent buddy cop team-ups. Instead, plenty of the film's running time is also dedicated to Roper's relationship with his girlfriend (Carmen Ejogo), as well as character development for the main villain, played by Michael Wincott. His chilling performance being a highlight of the film.

Despite the fact that Metro mostly wastes its potential, it still manages to deliver a handful of exciting set pieces. Director Thomas Carter takes full advantage of the San Francisco location by setting up his action scenes around the city's famous landmarks. This includes an obligatory chase sequence down the San Francisco hills - a home to many iconic Hollywood chases. The filmmakers even seem to have taken a couple of pages from Michael Bay's playbook by wrecking a number of vehicles with a trolley car, only narrowly avoiding a giant explosion at the end of the chase.

What drags all this action down is a somewhat sloppy script. It's the kind of movie that, at first glance, presents itself as a high quality production in the style of Hollywood legend Jerry Bruckheimer, but if you think about the plot too much, a lot of it ceases to make sense. For instance, how does it help for the main villain to commit reckless crime that can be easily pinned down on him when he's still only under a suspicion by the police? It seemed like it would be smarter to keep a low profile and go into hiding instead. Metro is also a movie that was made during a period when Eddie Murphy wanted to transition from comedy into more dramatic roles, and while his natural charisma and wit shine through, there are some jarring moments where he may be trying a little too hard. While it's not entirely convincing, you can at least give him points for the effort.

While the overall package is less than the sum of its parts, Metro does offer a solid enough execution to provide some fun chills and thrills. I would recommend it to movie fans who enjoyed such classics as Speed or Bad Boys.

Perhaps the biggest problem in Eddie Murphy's career always was, that people expected him to be a fast talking guy whose mouth gets him in and out of trouble. As soon as he tried to escape that formula, viewers were in for a disappointment and found his movies below than average.

If you leave that behind, "Metro" is a solid action movie with a couple of remarkable stunt scenes. It's also very delightful to see that it tries to leave some of the usual "veteran cop gets rookie partner" routine behind and playfully mocks some standard suspense elements: you see a young girl in front of her opened bathroom mirror searching for something. The music swells. She starts to close it and what does the viewer expect? To see the face of the killer when the mirror closes. But nada. Those are really refreshing bits.

Murphy's performance is quite solid, the story is what to expect from an action movie and refreshed, as I said, by the bits above.

Eddie Murphy as a foul-mouthed, loud-mouthed action lead? I'm in. True, the man has done little worth one's time past the 80's, but he's fun to watch with only a few exceptions. The plot and writing in general is cliché-ridden... the best way to enjoy the film is really to avoid thinking about it, and just going with it. The action scenes are fairly well-done, and the cinematography is decent enough. Whether or not you enjoy the frequent jokes appearing early on regarding one particular characters identity is difficult to say... personally, I found them to be somewhat cute. The humor in general is fair. The dialog is okay, but not terribly memorable. The plot progression is good enough. The action isn't breaking any new ground, but it manages to be exciting and intense, and fairly well-edited, as well. The finale is quite good, very good tension. The acting is good... Rapaport and Murphy work well together, and Wincott makes a good villain(as Alien: Resurrection will tell you, he makes an awesome bad guy, criminal type). The romantic interest of Murphy works well... they've got good on-screen chemistry, and their scenes together are credible. In conclusion; sure, we've seen all this before... but it's still good for a fun two hours. I recommend this to big fans of action films and/or Eddie Murphy. 6/10

Coming home from work tonight, I felt like I needed three things: a beer, a film and a woman. Sadly, only the middle of the three was a viable option (I'm at work early tomorrow) and so I settled for the only film that finished at a sensible time: "Metro". And even though it was an Eddie Murphy vehicle from the Nineties, I enjoyed it far more than I should have.

"Metro" has an extremely basic story at it's centre: hostage negotiator Scott Roper (Murphy) incurs the wrath of jewel thief Michael Korda (Michael Wincott) who then proceeds to pursue Roper and his girlfriend (Carmen Ejogo) with murderous intent. Throw in a clichéd car chase (well, it is set in San Fransisco) and a typically climatic face-off at the end and it's plain to see that "Metro" does nothing new for the action cop movie - something you'd expect Murphy to do, given that he plays action-cop-extraordinaire Axel Foley in the "Beverly Hills Cop" series. In truth, it's difficult to decide whether this is a good movie badly done or a terrible movie well made.

I've made my mind up: it's an average movie. Despite flashes of goodness, "Metro" wallows in stereotype and imitates every action movie gone before. The baddie who just keeps coming back, the attack on Murphy's girlfriend, the loser cop who comes good in the end. We've all seen these done to death and I, for one, have no desire to see them again. I admit, it was a brave decision casting Murphy as the lead. Many, including myself, thought he was finished when the Eighties did (at least, until "Shrek" came along) and he does look like a fat Snoop Dogg in this, which doesn't help. The other brave decision was making the romantic lead English, which doesn't happen every day.

Other than that, this is strictly by-the-numbers. Why does every action film in San Fransisco feature a runaway tram? Why does it always rain when things don't go right for loser-cop hero, especially when their partner and best buddy gets taken down? Why does every car in San Fransisco fly instead of drive? I could go on but it's late and I'm tired. Plus, my typing is keeping my flatmate up. Basically, "Metro" is a good enough film but never threatens to get above "OK". No ambition and little enthusiasm and it shows.

Accidentally come across this movie.... Eddie Murphy is actually really good in this.

If you rent this movie thinking it is another Eddie Murphy action-comedy, you better think again!!!! This movie is STRICTLY an action flick. Of course, that's not a complaint, it's just a statement. Murphy still is enjoyable as the hero. He's not playing Axel Foley from the BEVERLY HILLS COP movies, but he sure seems a lot like him. It also steals elements from some of his earlier films. In my opinion, this is a guy movie. The women will probally be bored by the non-stop action and the fact that the only woman in the movie is Eddie Murphy's girlfriend, but action fans will LOVE this movie!!!

Back in Eddie Murphy's heyday in the 90s, he churned out a few memorable performances - but also a number of mediocre "mehs" along the way. In 1997's crime thriller 'Metro,' Murphy plays a cop who is tasked with negotiating tough hostage situations in San Francisco. At face value, this sounds like a pretty exciting premise. But where 'Metro' falls down is its poor screenwriting and uneven plot.

Sure, this movie isn't masquerading as an Oscar contender by any means. Be that as it may, 'Metro' should still be held to a certain standard. There are so many points in this film when it seems the end is fast approaching, yet it continues to drag on far longer than it should. In terms of the cast, besides Murphy, the rest of the cast is pretty lackluster. We have a young Michael Rapaport who plays a rookie officer who's paired up with Murphy's character. There's Carmen Ejogo as a photojournalist who is also Murphy's love interest. And Donal Logue as a body part-collecting big-time thief. None of these performances are enough to match Murphy.

However, the biggest complaint about this movie is that it just feels like an afterthought on every level. From the terrible dialogue to the cheap effects and the never ending runaway trolley scene, everything about 'Metro' feels sloppy. No wonder this one never makes the cut when people list Murphy's best efforts.

Well, you feel sorry for Eddie Murphy when you are watching this movie as it is one from the times he still mattered as an actor and where movies by him were a synonym for great entertainment. I always thought that he was better in actionmovies then in the tons of comedies he starred in, so here he is a cop who has no fear and call it Beverly Hills Cop IV and you won't note anything different as his character is almost completely the same but still "Metro" works. The scenario is kind of simple, Eddie's best friend got shot by some diamondthief and that of course asks for revenge...pretty stupid you say, perhaps but then you haven't counted the superb stunts (the scene with the tramway is great) and the brilliant villain that is played by Michael Wincott. Quite good movie but why the hell is it called Metro? Not a subway in sight!!!

Scott Roper (Eddie Murphy) , a hostage negotiator catches a murderous bank robber after a blown heist. The bank robber gets away and immediately goes after the man who put him behind bars. Along the way, the hostage negotiator teams up with a Sharpshooter (Michael Rapaport) to smack down a heinous jewel thief (Michael Wincott, who steals the show supplying the dangerous villainy). There's a major element in the script: the relationship between Roper and his girlfriend (Carmen Ejogo) , the hero' vaguely feisty love interest-in-peril. San Francisco's top police hostage negotiator is about to get more than he ever bargained for !. Life is a negotiation !.

Thrilling and breathtaking movie with intrigue , tension , explosive action , twists and turns . An adept turn from Eddie Murphy as San Francisco hostage negotiator Scott Roper knits together a functional assembly of stock cop-movie elements, while our starring attempts to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. The ending is played out with Roper and his partner McCall attempting to bring down the really nasty villain. This is probably the closest to a genuine dramatic part Eddie Murphy's ever performed, and his snappy patter is persuasively integrated into Roper's daily routine. Resulting to be a tailor-made character, balancing action high-lights and the usual bit of lip. Unfortunately, there's little to be done with writer Randy Feldman's by-the-book plotting. Originally developed as a star vehicle for Eddie Murphy, this mutated into a hybrid action/drama with a lot of surprises , thrills and plot twists . The draw for Eddie Murphy and Michael Wincott is a great opportunity to watch these players engage in a strong battle of wits in a subtle war of words , though they are mostly separated either phone talking or simply divided from one another by the impressive action scenes. Suspenseful and nail-biting storyline make for a thrilling ride as long as you don't contemplate the details for too long. Eddie Murphy is pretty well as the negotiator from district precinct and only hope to save hostages, while his contender Michael Wincott is terrific as the ominous and vengeful killer. This phenomenal pair of awesome stars are well accompanied by a top-notch support cast doing a very fine job , such as : Michael Rapaport as SWAT team rookie proves his mettle as the main man's new partner, Kim Miyori, Art Evans, Paul Ben-Victor, James Carpenter, Donal Logue, Dennis Arndt, among others.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Thomas Carter . He's a good craftsman, who works both , cinema and television. Being known for Coach Carter (2005), Saving the last dance (2001), Swing Kids (1993) and a large number of TV episodes from notorious series, such as: Equal justice (1990), The Strain , Colony, Roots, New Amsterdam, American Soul, Elementary, American Gods, The Code, Seal Team , American Gods, Resident, Amazing Stories, Hill Street Blues , Miami Vice, Alfred Hitchcock presents, and many others. Metro(1997)rating: 6/10. A decent Eddie Murphy vehicle.

Why is this movie categorized as a comedy - just because Eddie Murphy stars in it? There's no comedy in this film.