Review of Trespass

Trespass (1992)
6/10
Enjoyable enough for what it is.
2 September 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Trespass starts in Arkansas where two firemen Vince (Bill Paxton) & Don (William Sadler) stumble across a map showing the whereabouts of millions in stolen gold while putting out a huge fire, together they decide to find the gold for themselves & get rich. The map leads the pair to East St. Louis & an old abandoned factory, once there they start looking for the gold. Meanwhile local gangster King James (Ice-T) & his gang kill a rival who has ripped them off thinking no-one would be at the abandoned factory. Vince & Don witness the murder & are seen by King James & his gang, thinking fast Don takes a hostage & barricades himself & Vince a in a secure room. For the time being they are safe as there is no way into the room but at the same time there is no way out either so Vince & Don are trapped as King James & his men outside try to get into the room & kill them...

Directed by Walter Hill this is an entertaining little action thriller that I quite liked. The script by executive producers Bob Gale & Robert Zemeckis could be described as a more urban version of Panic Room (2002), only a decade earlier. The basic plot which really isn't too dissimilar to Panic Room is very good & I liked it, it's one of those plots where you tend to put yourself in certain character's positions & think about what you would do in their situation. Whether you would go hunting for the gold or how you would get out of the room without getting killed by the gangsters Trespass has a good story that holds your attention & definitely keeps you interested until the end. The character's are good if a little too simple, they are either good or bad with nothing between really although Don has a certain darker side. The script is fairly pacey although I must say that it can get a little repetitive at times, once Vince & Don are trapped in the room the film never really goes anywhere else & there aren't any sub-plots or anything else going on. The script also tries to throw in some moral dilemmas, in particular Vince & Don have millions in gold but it's completely worthless since they are more than likely going to be killed, it has a stab at trying to say money isn't everything & greed will ultimately lead to ones downfall. I suspect the main reason why Trespass isn't more well known is that there's a distinct lack of big action set-pieces, there's some shoot-outs & some scenes of buildings on fire but little else in the way of action. So what it boils down to really is whether you want lots of action or can get by with just a good solid intriguing plot, overall I liked Trespass but it's not a film I would probably want to watch again anytime soon.

Set almost entirely in an abandoned factory the film looks nice enough & the action is well choreographed. I suppose it's a fairly unremarkable film that won't last long in the memory in terms of looks & visual style but the plot does stand out & is something a little bit different. The violence is not excessive, a few people get shot & someone gets pushed off a roof. There is however lots of profanity as all the black gangsters swear like it's a religion, in fact all the language does get a little tedious & tiresome after a while. Just because you can say the 'F' word several times in a sentence doesn't mean you are hard.

Although set in St. Louis it was apparently shot on location in Memphis in Tennessee & Atlanta in Georgia. I must say that I am big fans of both Bill Paxton & William Sadler & I think they are both very good in this while the two named after small blocks of frozen water Ice-T & Ice Cube swear a lot. One of very few films not to feature a single woman during it's running time at all.

Trespass is a good tight little taught thriller with some nice action as well, the story is good & I liked it but it does get a little repetitive at times & if you can't get into the story then you will end up hating it.
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