FORMAT: DVD
Jeff Fahey stars in this highly enjoyable PM action flick as a down and out detective investigating the murder of an up-and-coming rapper. It seems he was gunned down in a club by men wearing Abraham Lincoln masks. Naturally, Fahey’s partner winds up in the crosshairs during their latest attack and is murdered. It’s then up to Jeff (who predictably gets saddled with a new partner) to get some payback.
The Underground has a very loose and silly premise, but that’s part of its charm. At first, it seems like it’s going to be a serious action movie riff on the real-life Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. beef. However, we quickly learn that the rapper was killed not but a rival gangster rapper, but by (are you ready for this?) an evil disco band named The Las Vegas Disco Express who are furious that he sampled from their ‘70s disco song! Incredible.
Nowadays when sampling music is commonplace in the industry and interpolation is the rule rather than the exception in the music business, The Las Vegas Disco Express wouldn’t have to take such extreme measures. Even if they were screwed over for royalties, all they’d have to do was hire a lawyer and sue, just like Marvin Gaye’s family did to Robin Thicke. Then again, if they did that, we wouldn’t have a Jeff Fahey action movie, now would we?
The presence of an avenging disco band should be enough for anyone to want to see The Underground. At the very least, it makes it stand out from the rest of the glut of late-‘90s actioners. Heck, even the usually cliched aspects (Fahey avenging his dead partner, slowly growing to respect his new partner, dealing with his crumbling marriage, etc.) work better than expected and the action is as typically over the top as you would hope for from PM Entertainment.
Fans of Fahey will no doubt enjoy this one. Although he internalizes a lot of his rage, when he finally starts cracking skulls, he’s a lot of fun to watch. In addition to Fahey, we have Kenneth (Lethal Weapon) Tigar as his ill-fated partner, Gregory Scott Cummings (Mac’s dad from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) memorably hamming things up as the ringleader of the avenging disco singers, and the great Brion James as Fahey’s captain. Michael McFall is kind of grating as Fahey’s cocky new partner, but he does get some good lines, like when he arrests one of the Abe Lincolns and says, “You’re impeached, bitch!”
I'm still mad about that lawsuit against Robin Thicke, even if I think his music does suck ass that case had a negative impact on music overall.
ReplyDeleteAnyways this was a fun film though there are some plot hang-ups(like how the villain's two cronies just vanish from the film with no explanation).