Rude & Crude, I’m Thankful For ‘Officer Downe’!
‘Officer Downe‘ is something viewers rarely see made. The shocking nature of the graphic novel turned film is not really acceptable by the mainstream these days. And the movie has no problems with that.
Everything is obviously pushing against normalcy within cinema. Look no further than the film’s intro for an example of how insane it is. Starting with a sex scene that has an orgasm counter, it jumps right into pure ultra-violence. If you can swallow the absurd characters and cheesy lines than you’ll be able to tolerate this.
I immensely enjoyed ‘Officer Downe‘ for what it is. It thrusts you into a bizarre cartoony world with no explanation. It’s not quite surreal but there’s no reality. Living in a time where comic movies strive for realism, this throws reality out the window.
The story is fairly simple. A cop, who can’t be killed, keeps coming back to fight crime and clean up his city. He isn’t quite a zombie but he comes back to life easily and angrier each time. When the animalistic gang Fortune 500 is starting to really run the town, this is the time for the police department to use the unstoppable police officer to bring them down. Did I mention ‘Officer Downe‘ is really bizarre? This could fit right in with Troma classics like ‘The Toxic Avenger‘.
“Protecting. Serving. Ass kicking.”
The characters for the film are one of the few issues with the film. Other than the titular cop, no one is allowed to be fleshed out…no pun intended. It goes with the whole theme but the supporting characters feel like caricatures. They are fun to look at but lack any substance. That’s the heart of any problem with the film; it’s too pulpy at times. Everything is so purposefully cheesy that it can only reach the “so bad that it’s good” category. Adding more heart & soul could have changed that.
None of that takes away from how damn fun ‘Officer Downe‘ is.
The soundtrack is honestly action movie perfection. The violence is so gratuitous and the action scenes are plentiful. Director Shawn Crahan, Clown from the band Slipknot, knows exactly who he is making this movie for. He wants to gain recent cult classic status like ‘Hobo With A Shotgun‘ and ‘John Dies At The End‘, both films from Magnet Releasing like this is. I believe this will find its place with a niche audience and hope Shawn Crahan can create more.
Final Thoughts:
Sure, ‘Officer Downe‘ is style over substance but it seemingly admits that. People have compared it to ‘Robocop‘ but there’s far more reference points than just that. While it’s by no means a perfect film, it’s unapologetic and uncompromising. Also, it is really damn fun. Pure schlock but we need more of that. Hollywood is always so polished that something rough around the edges is needed.
Synopsis: Based on the graphic novel, a police officer who can’t be stopped by death returns to the streets time and time again to fight crime.
Genre: Action
Country: USA
Director: M. Shawn Crahan
Starring: Kim Coates, Sam Witwer, Lindsay Pulsipher, Lauren Vélez
