With a certain gravelly voiced, helmet clad lawman kicking in theatre doors soon (
which we gush about Here!), we’ve deemed it prudent to examine some shining examples of law enforcement the film industry has tendered...
#5. Nicholas Angel – Sandford Police Department
With so many actors willing to physically transform for roles (
Christian Bale, Eric Bana, Charlize Theron) everyone seems to have forgotten
Simon Pegg’s unprecedented transformation from nerdy, underachieving store clerk Shaun to
Hot Fuzz’s balls-to-the-wall granny-kicking Sergeant Nicholas Angel.
Inarguably* cinema’s greatest police movie, and
Edgar Wright’s crowning glory,
Hot Fuzz has its lead go off the f*cking chain in the final act. Nicholarse takes the cult ruled town of Standford by storm, K.O.ing priests, skulling a giant with a peace lily and impaling
James Bond (
Timothy Dalton) on a miniature church spire.
Yes!
*You heard me.
#4. Rama – Jakarta SWAT Team
Rama starts out as a rookie on a SWAT team but is swiftly demoted to
man-just-fighting-to-not-die-horribly! THE RAID’s sense of law and justice was dubious to begin with, but by the time
Iko Uwais starts guillotining criminals on serrated doorframes, one pretty much assumes all sense of law and order has been chucked out the window.
Not unlike the machete gang leader!
(Check out the Content Hub if you don't believe me)#3. Hal Jordan – Green Lantern Corps
Forget about
Martin Campbell’s Green Lantern. I’m not being facetious, seriously forget about it! Fascist or not, as a
Green Lantern, Hal Jordan is charged with policing an entire space sector (because that’s a well defined unit of measurement!)
This is achieved by employing hard light constructs of dragons, spaceships and giant, glowing green mecha!
How
GreenLantern wasn’t the most blistering inventive Science-Fiction of the past 20 years still baffles me...
#2. John MaClane – NYPD
For those strapped for time, see #4.
But in fairness to
MaClane, and his inability to singlehandedly best a gang of knife wielding thugs, he uses some good old fashioned police know-how to deduce enemy numbers and positions as well as talking round support from his twinkie loving compatriot, Al.
Also, after 30 years on the force he reaches the rank of Detective Lieutenant and celebrates this fact by shooting himself through the chest to kill Evil
Timmy Olyphant in
Die Hard 4.0#1. Joseph Dredd – Justice Department
With
DREDD 3D just on the horizon, we figured the strong-chinned, no-nonsense guardian of Mega City One was worth a word or fifty. Beyond his gatling gunned Lawmaster motorcycle and arsenal launching Lawgiver sidearm,
Dredd’s mug symbolises the facelessness of Justice, while his perp-busting antics represent it’s uncompromising application.
Always just on the cusp of action super-stardom,
Karl Urban was an inspired choice to embody
Dredd’s satirical stoicism and cynically unwavering stance on crime. Which is just a fancy way of saying he’s going to put some serious boot to ass come September 7th.