This thoroughly enjoyable B-movie stars
Hauer as screwed-up cop Harley
Stone, who lives on sugar, coffee, adrenalin and irritating his co-workers,
particularly his new partner (played by Taggart veteran Duncan). Still, it's a screwed-up world too, with London knee-deep in
water, and an insane serial-killer slaughtering people in ominous fashion.
The plot is, by and large, ludicrous: it's the interplay between Hauer and
Duncan that make this work, as the latter's character slowly warps towards
that of his colleague, culminating in the renowned "bigger guns" speech
which nods to Jaws while simultaneously eclipsing it. The supporting
cast includes Pete Postlethwaite, Ian Dury, Cattrall and Michael J.
Pollard - one of them spends a lot of time in the shower, luckily, it's the
one you'd expect. The film also delivers a fair bit of gore, and London is
used to good effect. But this is Hauer and Duncan's movie, without a doubt,
and it's one of the former's finest outings since The Hitcher.
B+
