Metro (1997) Reviews

• Although It's Nothing Special, Metro is a Solid Action Movie Regardless

  wchngliu2007-07-31

  Metro appears to be a low-budget action affair, which whilst it has nothing new to offer, shows us a different side to Eddie Murphy as an actor that we hadn't seen before in his previous films. People have in the past often compared this to Beverly Hills Cop 1, in terms of the fact that they are both your typical, run- of- the- mill cop movies, but the comparisons seem to come to an end when you compare that film to Metro, in terms of plot, character types and the fact that Eddie Murphy doesn't joke about as negotiator/cop Scott Roaper that often. Not like his predecessor, Axel Foley. Here, as Roaper he is much more serious and not as laid back in contrast to his most famous movie character. Metro plays out as a straight out action movie that isn't reliant on laughs, which in itself is no bad thing. One of the main problems that some of the audiences had, in regards to their expectations of Metro, was by assuming that it would be something similar on the lines of Beverly Hills Cop. It has its funny moments, but these are few and far between throughout the film, as the narrative in Metro is very much serious and the standard cop thriller we'd come to expect. Overall, Metro is not a bad effort and the action sequences are well executed. Murphy gives a surprising turn and performance as Roaper and thus it makes a change to see him in an almost completely non-comedic role, which he does well in. Not bad indeed.

• Murphy's most overlooked performance & movie!

  Chris9972002-06-09

  Metro, starring Eddie Murphy, may well be worth your viewing time. Yes it got a fair amount of negative reviews from people who wanted to see another "Nutty Professor" or thought of "Metro" as Murphy trying to play Axel Foley again. Others had problems with the script, the plot, the pace of the film, but nobody cared to mention how good Murphy actually is in this. His character is a San Francisco hostage negotiator, named Scott Roper, who one day meets his worst enemy in a jewel thief (played wonderfully by Michael Wincott) who makes his job a nightmare. From that point on a cat & mouse chase between Murphy & Wincott develops, & plays it's part in a rather amusing way. I don't want to give a lecture here on this subject, because movies like "Metro" are just made to entertain the viewer. "Metro" is a solid action film, with some suspense, some great stunts, and very good performances from the whole cast. Murphy, in what I think is one of his better roles, gives us his comedic touch, but this is more of a dramatic, serious role for him. I saw not Murphy, but Scott Roper, throughout the whole movie. A sure sign that an actor is doing his job quite well! - Murphy is superb.

• Solid action movie

  Fiona G.2000-04-16

  Perhaps the biggest problem in Eddie Murphy's career always was, that people expected him to be a fast talking guy whose mouth gets him in and out of trouble. As soon as he tried to escape that formula, viewers were in for a disappointment and found his movies below than average. If you leave that behind, "Metro" is a solid action movie with a couple of remarkable stunt scenes. It's also very delightful to see that it tries to leave some of the usual "veteran cop gets rookie partner" routine behind and playfully mocks some standard suspense elements: you see a young girl in front of her opened bathroom mirror searching for something. The music swells. She starts to close it and what does the viewer expect? To see the face of the killer when the mirror closes. But nada. Those are really refreshing bits. Murphy's performance is quite solid, the story is what to expect from an action movie and refreshed, as I said, by the bits above.

• Actually not as bad as it seems

  Psycho Mantis2001-07-27

  Eddie Murphy plays a hostage negotiator in San Francisco, he lives a dangerous life, but he still thinks it´s pretty okay. One thing he doesn´t think is okay is when his friends gets killed. But that is just what happens, his best friend is murdered by an evil jewel-thief, and now Murphy wants revenge. The plot in "Metro" did not really impress me when I heard about it. Eddie Murphy as a comical hostage negotiator... It sounds pretty corny to me, but it was actually not as bad as it first seemed. The action scenes are well made, especially the breath taking car chases down the steep streets of San Francisco. But I can´t really say the movie was good. The plot is not very original, this could actually have been titled "Beverly Hills Cop 4" and no one would have noticed. Between the action scenes there aren´t very much to write home about. Murphy is occasionally funny, but he can be really annoying too. The best thing in "Metro" is definitely the villain, played by the underrated Michael Wincott. He is truly the perfect bad guy. That rasping voice, that glance in his eyes, wow! He can make even the simplest villain into a terrifying monster, which he should be highly praised for. And I wonder if not this guy holds the record in movie-deaths? I´ve seen Wincott in about ten movies, and he gets to meet his maker in all of them! I almost feel sorry for him, but I don´t think he´s complaining too much. If he dies in "Metro" or not, I´ll let you figure out for yourself. Back to "Metro" now. If you don´t expect any clever ideas, just some good action sequences with a silly plot, it´s not that bad. But on the other hand, not that good either. * * ½ out of * * * * *

• In its entirety, just a fun movie

  MovieAddict20162006-02-08

  * Brief Spoiler * It's a breath of fresh air when an action movie these days simply resorts to the typical clichés and doesn't try to impress the viewer too much. Twenty years ago this would have been bad. Now, with each and every movie trying to surpass the last entry into the genre and, for the most part, ending up as an overblown bore, the standard action flicks are wanted more than anything. "Metro" (1997) is just that. It's got some of the oldest tricks in the books while adding lots of neat stunts and action pieces. Towards the end, the female love interest of the hero is tied to a metal mechanism that will slice the girl's head off if the red safety button is not pressed. The villain lets go, the hero presses the button as quickly as he can, and moments later the villain returns with a sports car, driving right towards the hero. If he lets go of the button, the girl's head comes off. If he doesn't move, though, the villain will run him over with the car and the girl will die anyway. What's he do? It's the classic action ideas such as this that help the movie. It reminded me of those old silent movies where the dastardly villain would tie a helpless girl to a railroad track, then climb into his stolen steam train and surge down the track towards her. But "Metro" also leaves room for car chases and shoot-outs - in one scene, a San Francisco trolley is hijacked by the bad guy, and the hero pulls up alongside the trolley in a Cadillac, jumps aboard, fights the villain, ends up pushing the full speed lever, and ramming the trolley into cars and right off of its line. It proceeds to scrape along the sloping road, off its tracks, scraping metal, ramming into everything in its path. It reminded me of the car chase in "The Rock," another good action movie with a visibly larger budget but the same fun quotient as "Metro," which is "Beverly Hills Cop" meets "The Negotiator," for the most part. Action movies always have setups that pay nothing to the movie other than a character introduction. "Metro" has a great one. We are introduced to the hero, Roper (Eddie Murphy), who is *not* the film critic on Ebert & Roeper, the latter of whom I could not get out of my head every time the name Roper was said on-screen. Roper is a hostage negotiator. He talks down the bad guys from what they're doing, and when things get really bad he has to take drastic action - such as shooting the bad guy in cold blood. Roper does this in the beginning after a funny and original setup scene, in which he walks into a building with a bag of donuts. The hostage taker doesn't believe they're just donuts. "Open the bag!" he says. His hostage takes the bag, opens it, and shows him donuts. "They're just donuts!" he says. In another type of action movie, perhaps Roper would have concealed a gun in the donut bag. Not in "Metro," which pays its respects to the other action movies such as "Beverly Hills Cop" that helped make Eddie Murphy what he is today. I read a short review on "Metro" that said Roper, Eddie Murphy's character, is another loud-mouthed, unlikable character of the sort that Eddie spoofed with Buddy Love in "The Nutty Professor." I beg to differ. Sure, he's loud-mouthed, but what Eddie Murphy character isn't? He's much more likable than some Murphy characters I can think of off-hand. I could go into the plot of "Metro," but I'm not sure it really matters. For the most part, I've got to say it's routine but it has its little twists and surprising moments along the way. Roper is training a new kid to take his place some day. The kid is played by Michael Rapaport, who succeeds in making his character smart and equally likable. I knew what was going to happen to him. As soon as I saw him I said, "At the end he'll get shot but he'll survive." Well, it happens. But for what it's worth, "Metro" is a lot better than I thought it would be, with some great action sequences, sly humor, likable characters, and plentiful nods towards the standard action films out there, some (such as the decapitating machine) dating back to the adventure films of the silent era. "Metro" is, in its entirety, a fun movie.