Bullet Points: Lockdown (1990)
If there was ever a Mount Rushmore of action movie villains, I firmly believe that Richard Lynch’s unforgettably evil face would be on that monument. I also firmly believe that Richard Lynch was put on this earth to play the bad guy in movies and television and he did… many, many times over.
- Lockdown Lowdown: Detectives Ron Taylor (Chris DeRose, Murphy’s Law) and Mac Maguire (Chuck Jeffreys, Superfights) are on a stakeout when a call comes over the radio that there is an officer down at a nearby exotic car dealership. Ron and Mac immediately answer the call. When they get to the car dealership they find the young cop on the floor and in bad shape. The gun shot cop’s last words are the description of the car the guy who shot him was driving… and just like that the pursuit is on! The cop killer in question is the car loving James Garrett (Richard Lynch, Invasion U.S.A.) Garrett and his running “buddy” Johnny were at the dealership to kill the owner at the behest of their superior when the young cop showed up and got way more than he bargained for. Now Garrett and Johnny are on the run…
- Tepid Pursuit: After a brief vehicular pursuit on the highway, Ron and Mac spot the two bad guys running inside a seedy hotel. The detectives go in after them and split up to cover more ground. Ron finds Johnny in a random room, cuffs him and is about to take him in when Garrett sneaks in from behind and knocks Ron silly… Garrett then does something shocking. He shoots Johnny using the concussed cop’s hand and gun… then Garrett disappears like a thief in the night (although it is daytime in this scenario). Mac shows up and thinks his partner has gone crazy, more cops finally show up and Ron finds himself in cuffs and in the back of a police cruiser.
- Top of the Chops: Garrett killing Johnny was a total power move. Johnny was the heir apparent to the evil chop shop empire that employed both men. Garrett did not think Johnny was qualified to run the business, so he took him out without it appearing that he was the one who took him out. This proves to be only step one in Garrett’s evil quest for chop shop domination. The byproduct of Garrett’s bold move is that Ron Taylor now finds himself behind bars fighting for his life (cops aren’t popular in prison). Meanwhile Ron’s partner Mac is on the outside trying to find some sort of evidence that will clear Ron’s name and reunite Ron with his wife and daughter.
- Ears To You: For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Chuck Jeffreys, he can be best described as the B movie version of Eddie Murphy, if Eddie Murphy was a skilled martial artist. Jeffreys’ character Mac Maguire starts to dig deep into the chop shop world…. unfortunately for Mac, he gets a little too close and finds himself a prisoner of James Garrett. When Garrett finds out who Mac is and why Mac was following him, he decides to send Mac’s buddy Ron a letter in prison… inside the envelope is Mac’s ear!! The ear incident is the straw that broke the camel’s back (the camel being Ron Taylor in this scenario), so Ron decides he is going to bust out of prison and bring Garrett to justice!
I can not recall the last time I watched movie that was as break even as Lockdown…
On one hand you had a ho hum hero in the form of Chris DeRose’s Ron Taylor. The plot also had some gaping holes in it, most notably Mac’s ear. The ear was cut off and sent to Ron, then the ear seemed to reappear for a scene, but by the end of the movie the ear is cut off again!?!?
On the other hand you had Richard Lynch at his evil best, killing anyone who got in the way of his grand plan and doing so in entertaining fashion. You also had Chuck Jeffreys’ with his big personality and Eddie Murphy act that commanded attention every time he appeared on screen. Lynch and Jeffreys were the two highlights of the film and helped push Lockdown out of unwatchable territory for me.
I would not recommend this movie for everyone, but fans of Richard Lynch and Chuck Jeffreys may want to peep this some lazy weekend. I would however recommend these Bonus Bullet Points for everyone…
- Familiar Face: Joe Estevez plays Dieter, Ron Taylor’s friendly cellmate in the big house. Dieter has an interesting backstory… Dieter was a professional baseball player that was found guilty of murder when he killed an umpire with a baseball bat in front of 2,500+ spectators.
- J to the Izzo: Lockdown was written by Joseph Mangelli and Joseph Izzo. I was not surprised to learn that this writing duo only has one other credit.
- The Name Game: This version of Lockdown should not be confused with Lockdown (2000) featuring Sticky Fingaz and Master P. (HOODY HOO!)
- Cars Are Good Quote: “I got into this business because I love cars. I really love cars.” – James Garrett
- Offensive Stereotype: One of the prisoners that pals around with Ron and Dieter is an effeminate black guy who ties his shirt in a knot and wears a kerchief around his neck. I’m not sure what was more offensive, the inclusion of this stereotypical character OR the piss poor performance of the actor portraying said character.
