Demolition Man Review

Demolition Man is a futuristic Sci-Fi Action Comedy from 1993. Sylvester Stallone stars as John Spartan, and Wesley Snipes as his nemesis, Simon Phoenix. The both of them are unleashed upon a non-violent society in the future, after being cryogenically frozen for several decades. In his time, Spartan was an L.A.P.D. officer, and Phoenix a known criminal. Phoenix escapes his parole hearing in the future, leaving the powerless police force (untrained in combat and hypersensitive to violence) with no choice but to reinstate Spartan (who was blamed for the death of hostages and thus frozen). The two are unacquainted with the moral standards and technology of the future and comedic pandemonium ensues.

The tone of the movie is far from serious, as evidenced by the appearance of actors like Rob Schneider (as Erwin). The comical nature of the movie is only reinforced by Sandra Bullock's character (Lt. Lenina Huxley) who yearns for "something interesting" to happen (the "utopian" society bores her). Her character comes off dense, because, among other things, she always gets 20th century sayings wrong ("He's finally matched his meet. You really licked his ass."). She has a fascination with the 20th century which makes her the perfect partner for Spartan.

The endless supply of one-liners and quotable moments make this a really fun movie. One of the running gags has to do with the "verbal morality code". In the future, apparently people don't swear, but Spartan and Phoenix are oblivious and unconcerned. This results in many "demerits", as indicated by machines on the wall ("Lenina Huxley, you are fined one-half credit for a sotto voce violation of the Verbal Morality Statute."). Also, all restaurants in the future are Pizza Hut. Hmm...

Of course, the so-called "utopia" is far from perfect. Those who refuse to be assimilated into modern society live underground, and have a community of their own. This community is lead by Edgar Friendly (as played by Denis Leary), who Phoenix has been programmed to kill. Spartan finds this community closer to home, and battles alongside these people.

There are a number of plot points that seem insignificant, like how Spartan was programmed to learn to knit while he was frozen (Phoenix was programmed with skills much more useful for his profession) and the mention of his daughter. I thought they were going to reveal that Huxley was his daughter, but she was already Spartan's established love interest in the movie, so the writers may have written themselves into a corner on that one.

The acting is nothing special, but that may have more to do with the goofy nature of the movie. You don't get the sense that Sandra Bullock is ever in "character", but it's not as though her character was a demanding part. Snipes' character was like a 6-year-old at a playground, having way too much fun, even for his own good. Spartan seems like the only "straight guy", but even that only adds to the comedic value.

All in all, I found the movie to be very enjoyable. You may think that I would have to have the intelligence of a peanut to enjoy something so inane, but it's one of the best movies I've watched in a long time. It's not meant to be serious, and I can appreciate that. My expectations weren't exactly high, so maybe "pleasantly surprised" is the best way to put it.

This article was originally published on March 30, 2008.