Dirty Harry 4: Sudden Impact: Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood's Sudden Impact injected fire back into the belly of one of the cinema's most iconic franchises. Though it didn't necessarily betray the character of Dirty Harry Callahan, The Enforcer (1976) presented a much more sanitized version of San Francisco's finest. Gone was the hand of screenwriter John Milius who had filled the first two films with snarling conservative ethics that were borderline fascist. Of course, contrary to many real-life accusations, Callahan was never a fascist character. But the pleasure in watching Callahan in the first two films came from observing him skirt those lines in the name of Justice. His appeal was that despite the brutality of his methods, Callahan was a man who truly, sincerely believed in the forces of justice. The Enforcer never really put Callahan in a situation where there was questionable moral ground (the sub-plot concerning his female partner doesn't count). But Sudden Impact throws Callahan back into a world of murky, uncertain ethics with an audible thunk. Here's the set-up: a rape victim is systematically hunting down and murdering her attackers. With one brilliant exception, all of the perpetrators are clearly depicted as unrepentant monsters. We, as the audience, identify with the young woman. We want her to kill them, just as we wanted Harry to torture Scorpio for the whereabouts of the kidnapped girl in Dirty Harry (1971). As a police officer, Harry is supposed to stop her. But will he? If given the opportunity to stop her, could he? Here is the heart and soul of the Dirty Harry franchise: how far over the law is too far? In this manner, Sudden Impact is not just another cop film. It also helps that the film is delightfully entertaining. A chase scene involving a bus full of enthusiastic retirees is among the most delightful in the franchise. And the scene near the end of the film where Harry's silhouette suddenly materializes in an abandoned amusement park may be my favorite Dirty Harry moment. But was the pissing, farting bulldog really necessary? I know that Warner Bros. made a killing pairing Eastwood with an orangutan in James Fargo's Every Which Way but Loose (1978), but this was just ridiculous.

7/10