Lethal Force (2001) - If ever there were a case of having to have a bad to appreciate the good, “Lethal Force” is it. And honestly, if everything bad were as entertaining as this, the film world wouldn’t be in as retched a state as it’s been in the last few years.

      Taking only the worst elements of everything ranging from 70s blaxploitation flicks – Rudy Ray Moore’s infamous Dolemite and The Avenging Disco Godfather come to mind -- to John Woo-style overdramatic interludes, where actors gaze longingly into each other’s eyes over cheesy Hong Kong slow jams, “Lethal Force” is a raucously funny over-the-top confirmation of the stereotypes plaguing bad B-movie grade action films.

      Shot -- as director/producer Alvin Ecarma describes it -- “guerilla style” in the gritty streets of D.C., “Lethal Force” has the unmistakable look of a very low budget production, yet still manages to remain entertaining. Suffering from some laughably bad dialogue (“You should have died when he killed you!”), stiff acting and about as generic a plotline as one can find, Ecarma somehow manages to make due with what he’s got. From digitally inserting semi-convincing gunfire and not-so-convincing explosions to using the same three masked extras to represent dozens of bad guy cronies, Ecarma pulls out every low budget trick in the book. B-movie auteur Roger Corman would be proud.

      Even if you’re not a big fan of the B-movie genre “Lethal Force” is still enticing in much the same way as the great Kentucky Fried Movie skit “A Fistful of Yen” was. Borrowing from the tried and true formula that mass-produced hundreds of painfully forgettable action flicks of the 70s and 80s, there is a crippled, wheelchair bound bad guy, a kidnapped son, a resident badass hitman, and a friend’s betrayal. But thankfully, there are also Swahili-speaking Minnesotites, jerry-curl dripping bad guys and an S&M scene involving a pretty hot asian chick. The film is laced with hilariously bad one-liners (“You’re like a broken pencil, POINTLESS.”), wild action scenes and a ganked-straight-from-John Woo flashback sequence involving a burning one hundred dollar bill lighting a cigarette played over said Hong Kong slow-jam.

      Let’s put it this way, every college kid should have a “Lethal Force” in their film library. After showing the film to my friends, we couldn’t stop talking about the film –- yes, we still find ourselves repeating those cheesy one-liners. Is “Lethal Force” a bad film? Yes. But more importantly, is that a good thing? Hell Yea.

For more on the film and how you can bring it to your town, drop filmmaker Alvin Ecarma a line at the official “Lethal Force” website, www.lethalforcethemovie.com.

Stephen Wong