Demolition Man (1993) Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Demolition Man
Year: 1993
Director: Marco Brambilla
Country: US
Language: English

Sylvester Stallone can be pretty much cemented as an American action movie Icon in 2017,  but his path to fame and fortune was not always clear-cut. Outside of the crowd and critic pleasing Rocky and Rambo franchises, many of Stallone's roles did not translate to financial success for the studios. His 1987 drama Over the Top floundered and the 1992 comedy Stop or My Mom Will Shoot was too off-putting to put butts in the seats. 1993's Demolition Man was a bit of a risk, a sci-fi action comedy, Stallone may have wandered into more than he bargained for. 

In Demolition Man, a police officer (Stallone) is brought out of suspended animation in prison to pursue an old ultra-violent nemesis (Wesley Snipes) who is loose in a non-violent future society. 

When Demolition Man hit theaters its reviews were relatively mixed, and it didn’t make quite as much money as the studio had hoped. Yet, despite this, the film is one of the smarter pictures in Stallone's filmography (albeit the filmography does hit some brainless points). It's set in a unique vision of the future, where crime is devoid and swearing results in being finned. It's like Ned Flanders himself was in control of the city. 

Wesley Snipes is well cast as the right actor to play an ultra-violent lunatic. He brings the right mix of humour, physical presence and psychopathy to the role. Stallone is also well cast as the fish-out-of-water underdog. The writing is remarkable, giving the movie a satirical edge that few other action movies could successfully tread. It’s unusual to see an action hero so painfully out of his element, and placed in a situation where he’s treated with scorn rather than adulation.

Demolition Man's setting, characters and plot are so fascinating that it can be forgiven for the less than stellar action sequences, which to seem to lack energy and are poorly edited. It's quite a witty, weird and memorable picture. I find myself wanting to view this more than any of Stallone's other features.