Frank White (Christopher Walken) is released from Sing Sing Prison. A one-time bigwig in the drug trade, he looks to resume his old position. His chief enforcer, Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne), has already cleared away some Columbian drug dealers. Clashes with Chinese drug dealers soon follow. Detective Roy Bishop (Victor Argo) knows that White is responsible and tries to intimidate him into better behavior. No go. Two of Bishop's cops - Gilley (David Caruso) and Flanigan (Wesley Snipes) - decide that more extreme measures are needed.
There is not a lot of story here. Gangster released from prison returns to his criminal ways, clashes with cops and other gangsters, lots of gunfights, and lots of people die. The visuals are good, but the car chase is much too long. How can that many bullets be fired and none of them hit? There are no characters to like. The gangsters are obviously bad but so are the cops. In one confrontation between White and Bishop, White explains how everyone he kills has it coming. In fact, he is the lesser evil. Someone is going to be selling drugs; why not him? After all, he has been funneling money to the financially troubled hospital in Harlem. He's a businessman. Interesting view.
For fans of the genre, this might be worth seeing. I found it mostly boring. Gangster movies just don't do anything for me. If everyone dies, that's the happy ending.
Skip.
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