Bullet Points: Instant Justice (1986)
My appreciation tour of Michael Pare started just after my first viewing of Streets of Fire. It was then that I knew that I would have his back no matter what he did. In fact, it’s always dumbfounded me that he didn’t have a better career as and action guy after seeing a few of his early 90’s gems. He really felt like he could’ve had a massive career if he were with Cannon Films in the 80’s.
Synopsis: Scott Youngblood (Michael Pare) is a US Marine who travels Spain to see his sister Kim, after many years of separation. But she is dead, and there is nothing else to arrive him. Alone in the Madrid’s streets, Scott will search for the killers, will try to reveal the reason of the murder of his dear sister, and for revenge for himself.
- The Few, The Brave: Michael Pare plays Sgt. Scott Youngblood of the United States Marine Corps. Yeah, that’s really his name and it is super awesome. Pare, sans accent mark, is a part of a Marine contingent at the U.S. Embassy (can’t remember where. His introduction is also the first time we see him go into action. During a brisk run in the early morning hours, Youngblood spots someone hiding in the woods and uncovers a plot to kill the Ambassador. The Sarge leaps into action and foils the plan, gaining a good amount of thanks from all the big-wigs at the Embassy.
- They calling me: Scott gets a medal for his efforts and then he gets a phone call from his sister. She’s in some deep shit and really needs Scott’s help. He isn’t exactly sure what is going on with her but he hears the name Dutch in the background and knows something is off.
- Out of his element: Like the good brother that he is, he takes some leave time and goes after his sister in Spain. Once there, he find some creeper in her apartment and learns that he was a friend of his sister. He “was” a friend because Scott’s sister is now dead! Now the movie is going to be all about revenge, er…. justice. Scott employs the friend many more times throughout the film and he ends up getting the award for “Best former friend of a dead girl”. He delivers information to Scott when he needs it, drives him around town after the bad guys, and helps him to get a gun for the killin’.
- First to Fight: I love when action movies don’t spend too much time blabbing around when all of us know the hero is there to kick ass. Instant Justice is one of those kind of movies that just seems to jump from fight scene to fight scene. He kicks a lot of ass and gets his ass whooped a little as well. As much as I love and respect the amount of fighting that goes on, it struggles to mean anything for the majority of the film. Youngblood seems to fight everyone wherever he goes but it doesn’t do much in the way of moving the story forward.
- Semper Fidelis: No matter the environment, Scott Youngblood is always ready to throw down! That goes for his constant fighting and when the time comes, the occasional buddy shower. As he gets closer to the truth about who caused his sister’s death he meets the lovely Virginia (Tawny Kitaen). She has found herself in the same position that Scott’s sister had been in and Scott seems to be the only chance for her to get out of it alive. Can you blame him for helping Virginia? Of course not. Can you blame him for sexing her up in the shower? No f*cking chance!
- Tough guys DO kiss: I don’t know where Virginia got the idea that tough guys don’t kiss, especially after he had just given her the Pare pulverizer in the shower. The movie doesn’t do much in the way of originality and it has a striking lack of bad guys in it, but it never passes up an opportunity to show Michael Pare punching a guy in the face. Also, he’s as proud a Marine as any character I’ve seen in a movie.
The Verdict: As much as I love to watch Michael Pare movies that I haven’t seen before, Instant Justice just didn’t cut it. It had its moments and I think that Pare looked to be in great shape, but the film had problems with pacing and the score was insufferable. A few of the supporting characters did their part but there was an almost complete lack of villains and the movie just bounced from fight scene to fight scene without much to back it up. No one is saying that action movies need to be full of exposition and character depth but you can’t have a complete lack of both. Pare has done worse movies, no doubt, but this one can’t be considered among his best no matter how much I dig the guy.
