Jericho "Action" Jackson is a Detroit police sergeant who was demoted from lieutenant for almost tearing the arm off of sexually violent sociopath Sean Dellaplane, whose father is Peter Dellaplane, a major car manufacturer. But Dellaplane himself is violent as well. Dellaplane kills his wife Patrice by shooting her. And then he plants her body in Jackson's apartment, framing Jackson. Dellaplane won't miss Patrice very much, because he has a drug-addicted mistress named Sydney Ash. He keeps Sydney hooked with a free supply of heroin. Jackson suspects Dellaplane of masterminding a murder spree against local officials from the auto workers' union. Dellaplane's mission is to gain a political power base and choose the next president of the United States. Because of what happened to Dellaplane's son Sean, Dellaplane has taken a particular dislike to Jackson. Jackson gets Sydney's help in going after Dellaplane. Vengence drives a tough Detroit cop to stay on the trail of a power hungry auto magnate who's systematically eliminating his competition. It's at first hard to tell if "Action Jackson" is oblivious to its own ridiculousness or playing up to it, but when Carl Weathers — the titular Jackson — chases a speeding cab on foot and not only catches up with it but actually runs alongside it, I think it's safe to say the filmmakers are well aware of the movie's stupidity. Sure, the plot is routine, the motivations laughable, the one-liners groan inducing, but you get plenty of fist fights, gun fights, car chases, explosions, assassins with near-supernatural abilities (until they meet "Action," of course), and flaming bodies falling from a office towers. Plus: boobies! And d–k jokes. Lots and lots of those. A few highlights: After a cop boasts about his sexual exploits his partner calls b.s., saying "They ought to call your place the House of Whacks." After rehearsing a song, Vanity says to her sugar daddy Peter Dellaplane (Craig T. Nelson), "I expected a standing ovation." The seated Nelson says: "You're getting one." <br/><br/>The story is pretty standard stuff to wrap around explosions and car chases: auto union bigwigs are being bumped off in Detroit, and detective Jericho "Action" Jackson is pretty sure auto magnate Peter Dellaplane is behind it. After overhearing an incriminating phone call Dellaplane's wife (Sharon Stone in her starlet days) runs to Jackson with her concerns, a move that puts a serious crimp in her marriage. Not that the marriage is all that strong, since Dellaplane has Vanity as a mistress. Soon thereafter, Jackson is breaking down Vanity's dressing room door and enlisting her help to get Dellaplane. More explosions and shootouts soon follow, as well as burning bodies, testicles in a jar, racial stereotypes, and a poorly disguised Pontiac Fiero (standing in for Dellaplane's flagship vehicle, the Halley) charging up the stairs of Dellaplane's mansion.<br/><br/>Weathers and Nelson appear to be having the time of their lives, though Nelson is the stronger actor. I prefer Sharon Stone as a manipulative vamp a la "Basic Instinct," but she does a good job with her role as Dellaplane's naïve trophy wife. She's expected only to look pretty, show some skin and act scared, pretty much in that order. Former Prince protégé Vanity was at what turned out to be the peak of her career when she made "Action Jackson," and while she made favorable impressions in the thriller "52 Pick-Up" and the martial arts parody/comedy "The Last Dragon," she's only so-so as the heroin-addicted singer Sydney Ash. She acquits herself well in the few scenes requiring her to be sexy (more boobies!) or tough, and she actually does some of her better singing here, but otherwise her performance is fairly weak. Not helping is a script that tries to force a romance between her and Weathers when there's just no spark between them. Also of note: I've never done heroin, but from what I've read the withdrawal symptoms are pretty excruciating, yet Vanity's character seems to kick the habit in a few hours after suffering no more than a really persistent headache.<br/><br/>Bad as it is, "Action Jackson" ends up being pretty entertaining, only despite its self awareness, not because of it. The people behind "Action Jackson" may be smart enough to know how dumb their movie is, but don't realize that just because they're laughing at their own expense doesn't mean they aren't the butt of the joke. While it is a pretty standard genre flick in some respects (maverick hero, psychotic and ambitious bad guy, beautiful women, angry boss, lots of explosions, etc.), "Action Jackson" maintains an irresistibly silly, tongue in cheek style. It's often so damn silly that it's hilarious. Just witness our hero's attempts to take down a cab driving goon. It begins with a good "grabber" opening, and continues to deliver enough mayhem to keep the action junkie consistently amused.<br/><br/>In his first starring vehicle, Carl Weathers once again shows off effortless charisma and his incredibly chiseled body. He's a natural for a role like this, playing the title character, a detective who's been saddled with a desk job for two years but who gets caught up in the schemes of Peter Dellaplane (a wonderfully hammy Craig T. Nelson), an auto tycoon with political ambitions and a murderous nature. Action Jackson figures that the way to get to Dellaplane is through his women: either his young second wife Patrice (Sharon Stone) or his foxy mistress Sydney (singer / actress Vanity).<br/><br/>The film comes up with a couple of one liners, some better than others. "So? He had a spare!" You know it's not meant to be taken seriously when Action Jackson actually drives a car through his quarry's house - and that's just one major example. The clichés are there, too: we have the kind of "Talking Villain" who feels the obligation to tell the good guy his entire evil plan - wrongly assuming, of course, that his nemesis is toast. Craig R. Baxley, a longtime stunt specialist in a career dating back to the early 70s, makes his theatrical directing debut here, and he would follow it up with such other delights as "I Come In Peace" (a.k.a. "Dark Angel") and "Stone Cold". So the movie is naturally full of great stunt work.<br/><br/>One awesome aspect to this movie is playing Spot the Familiar Face. And lots of them turn up - Thomas F. Wilson, Bill Duke, Robert Davi, Jack Thibeau, Roger Aaron Brown, Mary Ellen Trainor, Ed O'Ross, Bob Minor, Dennis Hayden, Brian Libby, Al Leong, De'voreaux White, Jim Haynie, Nicholas Worth, Chino 'Fats' Williams, Charles Meshack, Miguel A. Nunez Jr., Branscombe Richmond, and Sonny Landham. Now THAT'S an impressive cast!<br/><br/>Add to that a very 80s pop soundtrack (Vanity herself performs two tunes), a score by Herbie Hancock and Michael Kamen, a fairly high body count, and a lively finish, and you've got the ingredients for a damn fine 96 minutes of entertainment.<br/><br/>Seven out of 10.
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