It is the near future of 1996 and Los Angeles is overrun with crime. Sgt. John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) has finally tracked Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) to his stronghold. Phoenix has kidnapped a bus full of hostages that Spartan intends to rescue. After infiltrating the lair and killing a number of flunkies, Spartan and Phoenix face off. Though Spartan wins the fight, he is forced to flee the building with Phoenix over his shoulder before it detonates. In the wake of the blast, the hostages are found dead and Spartan is held responsible. He is sentenced to 70 years in cryogenic prison.
In 2032, Simon Phoenix is thawed out for a parole hearing and promptly escapes. He commits several murders as he flees the prison and makes his way into San Angeles (the megalopolis formed from Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, and San Diego). For reasons he does not understand, he has knowledge of computer hacking and martial arts. Better yet, the society of 2032 is nearly crime-free and has police totally unprepared to deal with him. Lt. Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) suggests thawing out the man who previously captured Phoenix.
Restored to the police force on a temporary basis, Spartan has the twin problems of adjusting to the modern world and tracking his most dangerous opponent. The world of 2032 looks shiny and advanced but is surprisingly repressive, with wall-mounted language monitors (cursing is fined) and the outlawing of things that are considered bad, such as cigarettes, alcohol, salt, exchange of bodily fluids, etc. Dr. Raymond Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne) is the architect of this world, having seized upon the ruins from the great quake of 2010 to remake society. It is not by chance that a character is named Huxley (the dystopian 1932 novel Brave New World was written by Aldous Huxley) as there are similarities.
Much of the action is ludicrous but extremely fun. Where Stallone is grim, Bullock is bubbly. They contrast quite well and excellently portray the divergent outlooks of their times. Snipes is hilarious as the heavy with his crazy yellow hair and gleeful villainy.
Great popcorn fun.
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