Much better than expected
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Dead Pool
Melton1 — 2 months ago(January 21, 2026 10:56 PM)
The Dead Pool is known as the weakest Dirty Harry film and the one that killed the franchise.
I watched it out of loyalty to the series and was pleasantly surprised. It’s a punchy 90 minute fun ride with great pacing. The supporting actors - Jim Carey, Liam Neeson and Patricia Clarkson are all ace. The remote controlled car chase is silly but surprisingly tense, as is the elevator shootout.
I probably put it above its predecessor, Sudden Impact, which was structurally messy. This one’s more lighthearted and less disturbing and gory than the others.
That’s actually a problem here, I’d have liked to have seen more twisted violence and better action - come on, we had Die Hard the same year, let’s do something more inventive than Harry blasting fools with his magnum on Easy mode (which they kind of do at the end but it’s not spectacular enough). The side-plot with the Crime boss and his goons never goes anywhere, his partner’s awesome kung-fu skills never reappear - the film sets these things up then ditches them
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In The Line Of Fire was the kind of film this movie should have been, and I wonder if that film is the spiritual send-off for Harry Callaghan. But this is the official final outing and it’s a good time with one of cinema’s coolest cops.