Chuck Norris stars in this 1985 actioner which is arguably some of his best work.

Honestly, having just gotten through it, and without sounding too harsh, that’s not saying much. He may be a great athlete and martial artist, but his acting skills still aren’t great.

Originally tooled as one of the many Dirty Harry sequels, when Warner passed the project eventually ended up in the hands of director Andrew Davis (who would go on to The Fugitive) and Norris.

It’s a familiar feeling story. Norris is a tough, righteous cop, Eddie Cusack. He works the tough streets of Chicago (Davis loves shooting in this city) and he is about to find himself in a world of trouble as a gang war led by Comacho (Henry Silva) erupts, and Cusack also clashes with members of the force over a dirty cop.

There’s a fairly recognizable cast filling out the film, Dennis Farina and Molly Hagan among them. There’s also some solid stuntwork and action set pieces, though the Prowler kind of ruins the seriousness of the film by its mere existence.

This, alongside Invasion U.S.A. ended up being one of Norris’ biggest films, and while he definitely looks the part, he’s got just a touch too much in the way of dialogue. Anytime he opens his mouth it just doesn’t work. Sorry Chuck, you’re awesome, but not the best actor, though your fight sequences are great.

I do love that this is an Andrew Davis film, and while he is not my favorite director, it’s been interesting tracking some of his work. I most recently watched Chain Reaction before this one. He definitely has built a style, and is great at working with ensemble casts and making sure minor characters get their moments.

A film like this also shows that 1985 was definitely a different time. To think that this one was moderately successful at the box-office compared to other films that came out that year. Wow. But theaters weren’t inundated the way they are now, and smaller films like this would get a chance to shine, and that is how Norris helped build his audience.

It’s not a horrible movie by any measure, but it is familiar, predictable, and constrained by the performance of its lead. I would like to see a film that actually forces Norris to really pull out some acting chops, every now and then I feel there’s a glimmer, but it’s never come to complete fruition, and now, well, he is who he is, an action icon of the 80s and we wouldn’t want him to change.

And maybe that’s why I keep going back to watch more of his films. He’s an icon, and the 80s were wild.