MAGNUM FORCE [1973] review
November 24, 2008 · Print This Article
The Dirty Harry marathon continued this weekend with MAGNUM FORCE, the second installment in the series, and I’d say a significant drop-off from its predecessor, but still a very good analog action movie. Clint Eastwood was every much as bad-ass as he was in DIRTY HARRY, as exemplified by him singlehandedly disposing of two hijackers on an airplane. That’s how you get things done!
I think the mystery surrounding the killer in DIRTY HARRY was more compelling and we were much more sympathetic to the victims, which were innocent girls and a priest. In MAGNUM FORCE, there is the mystery surrounding who the killer is again, but when the victims are mob figures, the sympathy for them being murdered is gone. Who cares if the city is rid of scum by vigilantism?
We see a more human side of Harry this time, even seeing him caring about other people in a tender way. Perhaps most revealingly, we learn that he has “needs.”
I also didn’t feel the suspense and tension that DIRTY HARRY produced. At one point I fear for Harry’s safety, but that only goes so far. There is no tension as the killer stalks mob victims. Thus, this is an interesting analog action movie, but not an outstanding one.
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