Metro (1997) User Reviews

Although It's Nothing Special, Metro is a Solid Action Movie Regardless

[wchngliu · 7/10 · 31 July 2007]

Metro appears to be a low-budget action affair, which whilst it has nothing new to offer, shows us a different side to Eddie Murphy as an actor that we hadn't seen before in his previous films. People have in the past often compared this to Beverly Hills Cop 1, in terms of the fact that they are both your typical, run- of- the- mill cop movies, but the comparisons seem to come to an end when you compare that film to Metro, in terms of plot, character types and the fact that Eddie Murphy doesn't joke about as negotiator/cop Scott Roaper that often. Not like his predecessor, Axel Foley. Here, as Roaper he is much more serious and not as laid back in contrast to his most famous movie character. Metro plays out as a straight out action movie that isn't reliant on laughs, which in itself is no bad thing. One of the main problems that some of the audiences had, in regards to their expectations of Metro, was by assuming that it would be something similar on the lines of Beverly Hills Cop. It has its funny moments, but these are few and far between throughout the film, as the narrative in Metro is very much serious and the standard cop thriller we'd come to expect.

Overall, Metro is not a bad effort and the action sequences are well executed. Murphy gives a surprising turn and performance as Roaper and thus it makes a change to see him in an almost completely non-comedic role, which he does well in.

Not bad indeed.

Murphy's most overlooked performance & movie!

[Chris997 · 7/10 · 9 June 2002]

Metro, starring Eddie Murphy, may well be worth your viewing time. Yes it got a fair amount of negative reviews from people who wanted to see another "Nutty Professor" or thought of "Metro" as Murphy trying to play Axel Foley again. Others had problems with the script, the plot, the pace of the film, but nobody cared to mention how good Murphy actually is in this. His character is a San Francisco hostage negotiator, named Scott Roper, who one day meets his worst enemy in a jewel thief (played wonderfully by Michael Wincott) who makes his job a nightmare. From that point on a cat & mouse chase between Murphy & Wincott develops, & plays it's part in a rather amusing way. I don't want to give a lecture here on this subject, because movies like "Metro" are just made to entertain the viewer. "Metro" is a solid action film, with some suspense, some great stunts, and very good performances from the whole cast. Murphy, in what I think is one of his better roles, gives us his comedic touch, but this is more of a dramatic, serious role for him. I saw not Murphy, but Scott Roper, throughout the whole movie. A sure sign that an actor is doing his job quite well! - Murphy is superb.

In its entirety, just a fun movie

[MovieAddict2016 · 6/10 · 8 February 2006]

* Brief Spoiler *

It's a breath of fresh air when an action movie these days simply resorts to the typical clichés and doesn't try to impress the viewer too much. Twenty years ago this would have been bad. Now, with each and every movie trying to surpass the last entry into the genre and, for the most part, ending up as an overblown bore, the standard action flicks are wanted more than anything.

"Metro" (1997) is just that. It's got some of the oldest tricks in the books while adding lots of neat stunts and action pieces. Towards the end, the female love interest of the hero is tied to a metal mechanism that will slice the girl's head off if the red safety button is not pressed. The villain lets go, the hero presses the button as quickly as he can, and moments later the villain returns with a sports car, driving right towards the hero. If he lets go of the button, the girl's head comes off. If he doesn't move, though, the villain will run him over with the car and the girl will die anyway. What's he do?

It's the classic action ideas such as this that help the movie. It reminded me of those old silent movies where the dastardly villain would tie a helpless girl to a railroad track, then climb into his stolen steam train and surge down the track towards her. But "Metro" also leaves room for car chases and shoot-outs - in one scene, a San Francisco trolley is hijacked by the bad guy, and the hero pulls up alongside the trolley in a Cadillac, jumps aboard, fights the villain, ends up pushing the full speed lever, and ramming the trolley into cars and right off of its line. It proceeds to scrape along the sloping road, off its tracks, scraping metal, ramming into everything in its path.

It reminded me of the car chase in "The Rock," another good action movie with a visibly larger budget but the same fun quotient as "Metro," which is "Beverly Hills Cop" meets "The Negotiator," for the most part.

Action movies always have setups that pay nothing to the movie other than a character introduction. "Metro" has a great one. We are introduced to the hero, Roper (Eddie Murphy), who is *not* the film critic on Ebert & Roeper, the latter of whom I could not get out of my head every time the name Roper was said on-screen.

Roper is a hostage negotiator. He talks down the bad guys from what they're doing, and when things get really bad he has to take drastic action - such as shooting the bad guy in cold blood. Roper does this in the beginning after a funny and original setup scene, in which he walks into a building with a bag of donuts. The hostage taker doesn't believe they're just donuts. "Open the bag!" he says. His hostage takes the bag, opens it, and shows him donuts. "They're just donuts!" he says.

In another type of action movie, perhaps Roper would have concealed a gun in the donut bag. Not in "Metro," which pays its respects to the other action movies such as "Beverly Hills Cop" that helped make Eddie Murphy what he is today. I read a short review on "Metro" that said Roper, Eddie Murphy's character, is another loud-mouthed, unlikable character of the sort that Eddie spoofed with Buddy Love in "The Nutty Professor." I beg to differ. Sure, he's loud-mouthed, but what Eddie Murphy character isn't? He's much more likable than some Murphy characters I can think of off-hand.

I could go into the plot of "Metro," but I'm not sure it really matters. For the most part, I've got to say it's routine but it has its little twists and surprising moments along the way. Roper is training a new kid to take his place some day. The kid is played by Michael Rapaport, who succeeds in making his character smart and equally likable. I knew what was going to happen to him. As soon as I saw him I said, "At the end he'll get shot but he'll survive." Well, it happens. But for what it's worth, "Metro" is a lot better than I thought it would be, with some great action sequences, sly humor, likable characters, and plentiful nods towards the standard action films out there, some (such as the decapitating machine) dating back to the adventure films of the silent era.

"Metro" is, in its entirety, a fun movie.

Nice to see Eddie Murphy attempt something that isn't an outright comedy.,

[thirteenthfloorelevator · 7/10 · 20 February 2006]

It doesn't always work, and Eddie Murphy is no substitute for a proper action star like Stallone or Mel Gibson, but at least he tries in this film. Metro has a clichéd plot about a diamond smuggler who murders Eddie's partner and it is Eddie's job to stop him, but Eddie does a great job and actually looks like he enjoys the role. He juggles the action and comedy scenes perfectly, and fortunately the two never overlap. The highlight of the film is the runaway tram scene, that is perfectly choreographed, and Michael Rapaport does a great job as Murphy's rookie partner. The film is not the best action movie around, but it is by no means the worst, and if you feel like being entertained for an evening, you could do a lot worse than this movie.

Actually not as bad as it seems

[Psycho Mantis · 27 July 2001]

Eddie Murphy plays a hostage negotiator in San Francisco, he lives a dangerous life, but he still thinks it´s pretty okay. One thing he doesn´t think is okay is when his friends gets killed. But that is just what happens, his best friend is murdered by an evil jewel-thief, and now Murphy wants revenge.

The plot in "Metro" did not really impress me when I heard about it. Eddie Murphy as a comical hostage negotiator... It sounds pretty corny to me, but it was actually not as bad as it first seemed. The action scenes are well made, especially the breath taking car chases down the steep streets of San Francisco.

But I can´t really say the movie was good. The plot is not very original, this could actually have been titled "Beverly Hills Cop 4" and no one would have noticed. Between the action scenes there aren´t very much to write home about. Murphy is occasionally funny, but he can be really annoying too.

The best thing in "Metro" is definitely the villain, played by the underrated Michael Wincott. He is truly the perfect bad guy. That rasping voice, that glance in his eyes, wow! He can make even the simplest villain into a terrifying monster, which he should be highly praised for. And I wonder if not this guy holds the record in movie-deaths? I´ve seen Wincott in about ten movies, and he gets to meet his maker in all of them! I almost feel sorry for him, but I don´t think he´s complaining too much. If he dies in "Metro" or not, I´ll let you figure out for yourself.

Back to "Metro" now. If you don´t expect any clever ideas, just some good action sequences with a silly plot, it´s not that bad. But on the other hand, not that good either.

* * ½ out of * * * * *

Neked in Tahiti.

[hitchcockthelegend · 6/10 · 14 January 2009]

Scott Roper is a wise cracking hostage negotiator, he is however exceptionally good at his job. After bringing down a particularly nasty bank robber called Michael Korda, he sets about winning his old girlfriend back whilst breaking in a new partner, Kevin McCall. When Korda escapes from prison there is only one thing on his mind, revenge, can Roper outwit Korda once again? And if so, at what cost?

There has always seemed to me to be something of a negative bias towards post 1980s Eddie Murphy (Roper) films, it appears that no matter what, nothing that comes close to his best 80s efforts will ever be deemed worthy. Now I'm not saying that Metro is a world beater, or even close to Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places, but it's an accomplished thriller with classy bits of Murphy humour thrown in. It also boasts splendid support from Michael Rapaport as Roper's intelligent partner McCall, both men playing off each other to good effect, while Michael Wincott with his gravel voice used to full effect, is impressively devilish as the bad guy of the piece. Let down by a weak female lead in Carmen Ejogo, and certainly the familiarity of the genre loses the film any real sense of impending dread, but for a quick fix of nonsense entertainment on a blustery cold night, it's a more than OK viewing. 6/10

Eddie Murphy in a darker police movie

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 18 May 2015]

Scott Roper (Eddie Murphy) is the best hostage negotiator in the San Francisco Police Department. After rescuing hostages in a bank, he's given new partner Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport) to train to take over. His recently broken up girlfriend Veronica Tate (Carmen Ejogo) is a newspaper reporter. His best friend Lieutenant Sam Baffert is investigating jewel thief Michael Korda (Michael Wincott) and is killed by him. Scott wants revenge but Captain Frank Solis is keeping him out of the investigation.

Eddie Murphy is playing a loud-mouth police detective except he's not wisecracking funny like Axel Foley. He seems to have lost some of his comedic luster of his earlier work. Also Eddie is trying to go darker in this one. Michael Rapaport is basically playing the same kind of character but they don't have the best chemistry. The problem is that the script lacks intensity or sharpness. Eddie doesn't have quite the personality for this type of police drama either. The movie does have an extended car chase through the hills of SF which has some fun carnage.

In some ways average, other ways quite good.

[ashleybrownmedia · 6/10 · 5 August 2013]

For the first hour of this film all I could think of was how average it was, I even had an average review written in my head for it. However, there are certain scenes, thrills and aspects - e.g. the ending predicament that are actually pretty good and will throw you.

Eddie Murphy plays a 'wisecracking' hostage negotiator, although tbh he's very much the 'serious' Eddie Murphy for most of the film. I prefer the fun Beverly Hills Cop guy, but there we go. There is a scene where he's talking about being in a thong and being seen by his mother's friends that is hilarious though. Plot-wise he basically gets on the wrong side of some nutter and his cousin and they conspire to make life hell for him and his English girlfriend. The female lead is a tad weak in this, and I must admit I've never ever heard of her (although I was 7 when this film came out - maybe she was big then) but she looked good - Carmen Ejogo she is.

Michael Rapaport is in this as well, as an intelligent sniper who is paired up with Murphy. Now I thought, judging by the cover etc, this was gonna be a buddy cop movie but Rapaport (an actor I like) is underused really. Don't get me wrong he's in the film a fair bit but his character has next to no personality. All I learnt was he's polite, sharp, from the Swat team and is a sniper. That's it. The film could have been done without his character if they wanted to save whatever fee he commanded.

Whoever plays Eddie Murphy and Carme Ejogo's dog is good in this though. Stellar, powerhouse performance reminded me of Hanks in The Green Mile or Orson Welles in Citizen Kane.

So yeah, mixed bag really - there's hate for post-80s Murphy films sure, but this is one of the better ones. It's a solid watch (on netflix atm) and there's some good action and the bad guy is easy to hate, so there's a lot worse out there. I won't strongly recommend but I'll say it's worth a shot - you know what you're going to get.

Would Have Been Good Had They Toned It Down A Bit

[ccthemovieman-1 · 5/10 · 27 October 2006]

This police action film might have been rated higher by me but for overdone violence and use of the f-word. Neither one normally offends unless they are ridiculously excessive, and that's the case here.

The action gets to be too much by the second half of this film and by the end, it's gotten ludicrous, and all the f-words aren't necessary. Eddie Murphy plays his normal wise-cracking, ladies man, macho man, etc. He's a funny, talented guy but he - or his writers - don't know when to tone his act down.

Michael Wincott is the attraction of this film as the vicious killer with that distinctive voice of his. However, credibility wanes a bit as Wincott seems to have three live. He's almost impossible to kill! Michael Rapaport, meanwhile, plays an unusually subdued and appealing role for him.

As for that action, the best scene involved the runaway cable car. That was awesome, and a scene I'd like to see again. I wish I could say the same for the whole film.

Over the top but fun comedy thriller

[jamiecostelo58 · 7/10 · 4 December 2006]

Eddie Murphy tries to act serious as well as funny as Detective Scott Roper, and he actually carries it off rather well. Wanting revenge for his partner's death, he's led on a dangerous cat-and-mouse game with Michael Wincott, who will not let him win easily...

The main highlights of Metro are a thrilling car chase sequence and the explosive ending! This is not the best film I have ever seen, but Wincott is immensely good as criminal Korda, displaying an almost never-ending desire to bring Roper down, even if it means double murder....

Metro is a fast-paced thrilling (and funny) movie from start to finish containing many startling and cunning plots that may seem a little odd at first but smoothing out to a satisfactory conclusion. I can definitely understand why it was a huge success at the box-office: it is very enjoyable!

Signal failure - 55%

[Benjamin_Cox · 5/10 · 7 January 2005]

Coming home from work tonight, I felt like I needed three things: a beer, a film and a woman. Sadly, only the middle of the three was a viable option (I'm at work early tomorrow) and so I settled for the only film that finished at a sensible time: "Metro". And even though it was an Eddie Murphy vehicle from the Nineties, I enjoyed it far more than I should have.

"Metro" has an extremely basic story at it's centre: hostage negotiator Scott Roper (Murphy) incurs the wrath of jewel thief Michael Korda (Michael Wincott) who then proceeds to pursue Roper and his girlfriend (Carmen Ejogo) with murderous intent. Throw in a clichéd car chase (well, it is set in San Fransisco) and a typically climatic face-off at the end and it's plain to see that "Metro" does nothing new for the action cop movie - something you'd expect Murphy to do, given that he plays action-cop-extraordinaire Axel Foley in the "Beverly Hills Cop" series. In truth, it's difficult to decide whether this is a good movie badly done or a terrible movie well made.

I've made my mind up: it's an average movie. Despite flashes of goodness, "Metro" wallows in stereotype and imitates every action movie gone before. The baddie who just keeps coming back, the attack on Murphy's girlfriend, the loser cop who comes good in the end. We've all seen these done to death and I, for one, have no desire to see them again. I admit, it was a brave decision casting Murphy as the lead. Many, including myself, thought he was finished when the Eighties did (at least, until "Shrek" came along) and he does look like a fat Snoop Dogg in this, which doesn't help. The other brave decision was making the romantic lead English, which doesn't happen every day.

Other than that, this is strictly by-the-numbers. Why does every action film in San Fransisco feature a runaway tram? Why does it always rain when things don't go right for loser-cop hero, especially when their partner and best buddy gets taken down? Why does every car in San Fransisco fly instead of drive? I could go on but it's late and I'm tired. Plus, my typing is keeping my flatmate up. Basically, "Metro" is a good enough film but never threatens to get above "OK". No ambition and little enthusiasm and it shows.

Solid action movie

[Fiona G. · 8/10 · 16 April 2000]

Perhaps the biggest problem in Eddie Murphy's career always was, that people expected him to be a fast talking guy whose mouth gets him in and out of trouble. As soon as he tried to escape that formula, viewers were in for a disappointment and found his movies below than average.

If you leave that behind, "Metro" is a solid action movie with a couple of remarkable stunt scenes. It's also very delightful to see that it tries to leave some of the usual "veteran cop gets rookie partner" routine behind and playfully mocks some standard suspense elements: you see a young girl in front of her opened bathroom mirror searching for something. The music swells. She starts to close it and what does the viewer expect? To see the face of the killer when the mirror closes. But nada. Those are really refreshing bits.

Murphy's performance is quite solid, the story is what to expect from an action movie and refreshed, as I said, by the bits above.

It's been seen before... but it's still fun to watch

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 6/10 · 11 October 2006]

Eddie Murphy as a foul-mouthed, loud-mouthed action lead? I'm in. True, the man has done little worth one's time past the 80's, but he's fun to watch with only a few exceptions. The plot and writing in general is cliché-ridden... the best way to enjoy the film is really to avoid thinking about it, and just going with it. The action scenes are fairly well-done, and the cinematography is decent enough. Whether or not you enjoy the frequent jokes appearing early on regarding one particular characters identity is difficult to say... personally, I found them to be somewhat cute. The humor in general is fair. The dialog is okay, but not terribly memorable. The plot progression is good enough. The action isn't breaking any new ground, but it manages to be exciting and intense, and fairly well-edited, as well. The finale is quite good, very good tension. The acting is good... Rapaport and Murphy work well together, and Wincott makes a good villain(as Alien: Resurrection will tell you, he makes an awesome bad guy, criminal type). The romantic interest of Murphy works well... they've got good on-screen chemistry, and their scenes together are credible. In conclusion; sure, we've seen all this before... but it's still good for a fun two hours. I recommend this to big fans of action films and/or Eddie Murphy. 6/10

Beverly Hills Crock?

[anaconda-40658 · 1/10 · 29 April 2015]

Metro (1997): Dir: Thomas Carter / Cast: Eddie Murphy, Michael Rapaport, Michael Wincott, Carmen Ejogo, Art Evans: Absolute junk advertised as a comedy when it is really another dreary action film. It stars Eddie Murphy as a negotiator undergoing a familiar drill involving a bank full of hostages that he will rescue. This bares little to the rest of the movie. His partner is murdered and he seeks revenge. It isn't much different than his Beverly Hills Cop comedies although this film is lacking in laughs. Director Thomas Carter allows the action to get way out of hand particularly during a reckless street chase where cars are bashed aside with no attention given as to the people in those vehicles. It is as if the filmmakers didn't care just as long as the audience cheered. Carter made one film prior called Swing Kids. Here he gets to work with Murphy but brings nothing new to the table. Familiar work by Murphy who is merely reciting superior work. Michael Rapaport is reciting the Judge Reinhold role from Beverly Hills Cop as the partner. Michael Wincott is wasted as a villain whose identity is given away way too early. That pretty much leaves any form of surprise out of the question as we just wait for Murphy to enact his revenge and beat the crap out of this guy and kill him. Basically a pointless variation of Beverly Hills Cop that should be throttled with a baseball bat. Score: 0 / 10

Action Satisfaction

[jellyneckr · 18 August 2000]

If you rent this movie thinking it is another Eddie Murphy action-comedy, you better think again!!!! This movie is STRICTLY an action flick. Of course, that's not a complaint, it's just a statement. Murphy still is enjoyable as the hero. He's not playing Axel Foley from the BEVERLY HILLS COP movies, but he sure seems a lot like him. It also steals elements from some of his earlier films. In my opinion, this is a guy movie. The women will probally be bored by the non-stop action and the fact that the only woman in the movie is Eddie Murphy's girlfriend, but action fans will LOVE this movie!!!

Hidden Gem

[rizwanyasin · 7/10 · 26 September 2021]

Accidentally come across this movie.... Eddie Murphy is actually really good in this.

A COOL 90's ACTION COP THRILLER

[lukem-52760 · 7/10 · 7 November 2020]

"Metro" is another Cool Action Cop Thriller from the Awesome 90's & a time that was full of slick & Cool Action-packed Cop Thriller's with plenty of comedy mixed in & two bickering partners & here the legendary Eddie Murphy is excellent as Scott Roper a Negotiator for the san Francisco PD who gets in to very personal trouble with a bank robbing killer & puts his girlfriend in harms way. Murphy is Cool here & does his fast talking & funny wise cracks with his bad ass attitude & gives more serious performance than what we we're used to at the time & he's really good but it's his sharp shooting, lanky new partner that steals the show played by the always entertaining Michael Rapaport, now there was a time during the 90's to early 2000's that Rapaport was quite a star & during his hey day of that time i was a huge fan of his as he seemed so Cool with tall & lanky look & old skool Thick New York accent & he seemed to pop up in all the good films at that time like True Romance, Beautiful Girls, Metro, CopLand, Kiss of Death, Deep Blue Sea, The 6th Day, Higher Learning, Next Friday, The Basketball Diaries & more, also he even starred the hit sitcom FRIENDS!!! Rapaport popped up in everything & was always a scene stealer & actually a really good fine actor, just watch his excellent performances in the Urban Drama, Higher Learning & the Cop Thriller, CopLand & the Gritty Crime Thriller, Kiss of Death. Although Rapaport was a tall, skinny & almost nerdy looking he came accross a nice guy most of the time & a Cool dude especially in my favourites of his roles (Deep Blue Sea, The 6th Day & Metro) Rapaport was a dependable actor who was usually apart of an ensemble cast but every so often got a meatier role as the "Sidekick" partner or buddy of the main star such as with "The 6th Day" next to Schwarzenegger or in "Metro" next to Eddie Murphy but always made the movie that little bit better by having him star in it. Rapaport's best movie starring days may be behind him now but he holds a place in my Nostalgia filled heart for a few of his films that i really love (Metro, Deep Blue Sea, The 6th Day) & continue to enjoy his roles from that time period.

Back to METRO!!! this is a standard pure 90's Cop Thriller that has plenty of shootouts, Action, fights, explosions & humour & is genuinely just a fun late night Cop film with two good leads tracking down a Cop Killer & Robber. There's plenty of violence & plenty of mouthy dialogue & best of all it has a really great role for Michael Rapaport. A cracking Cop Thriller even if it's nothing Special, it's good for what it is.

Not a memorable Murphy performance

[Mike_Devine · 2/10 · 11 November 2018]

Back in Eddie Murphy's heyday in the 90s, he churned out a few memorable performances - but also a number of mediocre "mehs" along the way. In 1997's crime thriller 'Metro,' Murphy plays a cop who is tasked with negotiating tough hostage situations in San Francisco. At face value, this sounds like a pretty exciting premise. But where 'Metro' falls down is its poor screenwriting and uneven plot.

Sure, this movie isn't masquerading as an Oscar contender by any means. Be that as it may, 'Metro' should still be held to a certain standard. There are so many points in this film when it seems the end is fast approaching, yet it continues to drag on far longer than it should. In terms of the cast, besides Murphy, the rest of the cast is pretty lackluster. We have a young Michael Rapaport who plays a rookie officer who's paired up with Murphy's character. There's Carmen Ejogo as a photojournalist who is also Murphy's love interest. And Donal Logue as a body part-collecting big-time thief. None of these performances are enough to match Murphy.

However, the biggest complaint about this movie is that it just feels like an afterthought on every level. From the terrible dialogue to the cheap effects and the never ending runaway trolley scene, everything about 'Metro' feels sloppy. No wonder this one never makes the cut when people list Murphy's best efforts.

Good Eddie Murphy movie

[monkey-man · 6/10 · 19 August 2005]

(Spoiler)

This movie is really good but before i watched it i thought that this movie would be crap and the funny Eddie Murphy from the great movie Beverly Hills Cop stars in this movie along side other good actors and actors like Michael Rapaport,Kim Miyori,Art Evans and Michael Wincott.

There are heaps of great action scenes in this movie and the best one has to be the great car chase half way into the movie and the scenes in the end of the movie are great as well.

Over all this movie is really good and it is worth watching and my rating is 6 out of 10.

Generic

[view_and_review · 3/10 · 9 October 2020]

This movie was so bland it's no wonder I kept zoning in and out. This standard cop movie broke no new ground in the genre and only succeeded in throwing millions of dollars down the drain. I guess they figured by casting Eddie Murphy in the lead that would be enough. Sorry, you gotta do better.

Eddie Murphy plays Inspector Scott Roper, an SFPD negotiator. He's the protagonist in a cop movie which means he's badass. He loses his friend to a murdering thief early in the movie and has to confront that same murderer later in a hostage situation. We got our customary shootouts, car chase, and explosions. I bet the writer thought he was being really smart when Roper's girlfriend, Veronica (Carmen Ejogo), was kidnapped for an exchange! How original!!

The movie started slipping into the darkness with me pretty early on, but the biggest plunge would have to be when Ronnie (Veronica) invited Roper over "just for dinner." Their relationship was the classic, I'm-through-with-you beginning which eventually becomes a steamy romantic make up/affair. It was clear that they had a thing at one time and Ronnie dumped Roper. She moved on to a baseball player while Roper stayed single. After rebuffing Roper several times Ronnie decided one day that he could come over for dinner only (code word: we'll be having sex by the end of the night).

"Where is your baseball player?" Roper asked.

"He's on a road trip," she replied.

I'm not to savvy when it comes to women, but am I missing something? Is "on a road trip" code for "he left me for another woman," because that guy was never around again and Ronnie jumped in the sack with Roper faster than a frog after a fly.

The movie just kept devolving from there. Eddie clearly mailed it in. He wasn't funny at all, and in fact he opted for an angry ranting role over his normal wittier self.

I wouldn't be spoiling a thing if I told you he saved his woman and killed the bad guy, Michael Korda (Michael Wincott). It was simply a matter of when not if as you could expect from a generic cop movie.

METRO (DIDIER BECU)

[Didier-Becu · 7/10 · 13 November 2003]

Well, you feel sorry for Eddie Murphy when you are watching this movie as it is one from the times he still mattered as an actor and where movies by him were a synonym for great entertainment. I always thought that he was better in actionmovies then in the tons of comedies he starred in, so here he is a cop who has no fear and call it Beverly Hills Cop IV and you won't note anything different as his character is almost completely the same but still "Metro" works. The scenario is kind of simple, Eddie's best friend got shot by some diamondthief and that of course asks for revenge...pretty stupid you say, perhaps but then you haven't counted the superb stunts (the scene with the tramway is great) and the brilliant villain that is played by Michael Wincott. Quite good movie but why the hell is it called Metro? Not a subway in sight!!!

Routine cop action thriller.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 13 July 2008]

Metro is set in San Francisco where Inspector Scott Roper (Eddie Murphy) works as a hostage negotiator, one night while questioning a suspect named Michael Korda (Michael Wincott) one of Roper's closest friends Lieutenant Sam Baffett (Art Evans) is brutally murdered. With a new partner named Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport) to show the ropes too Roper becomes obsessed with tracking his friends killer down & eventually does so when he arrests Korda after he had robbed a jewellery store. However Korda wants revenge & targets Roper's girlfriend Veronica (Carmen Ejogo) when he breaks out of prison...

Directed by Thomas Carter this run of the mill Hollywood action cop comedy thriller is an alright way to spend a couple of hours but isn't anything original or spectacular. The script by co-producer Randy Feldman includes every Hollywood comedy cop thriller clichés you care to think of, there's the whole mismatched partner angle, there's a wise-cracking hot-shot lead cop character who plays by his own rules & seemingly does very little police work, there's the one-liners & comeback's, there's the disgruntled police Captain who gets annoyed a lot, there's a really nasty bad guy who kills someone close to said cop & thereby makes it personal, there's the whole vendetta thing that flows through the film & there's a typical climactic showdown in which the cop kills the bad guy & gets the girl. Yawn. There really isn't anything in Metro that any action fan wouldn't have seen before & I seriously doubt there's anything in Metro that the average person wouldn't have seen before either. At almost two hours in length the film goes on for too long & it's just all so predictable & routine but it is saved by some impressive big budget action set-pieces & a fairly fun performance by Murphy who has turned swearing into an art form.

For the majority of the duration of Metro the film is unremarkable although it passes the time harmlessly enough but I will admit there are a few great action sequences in it. In particular there's a terrific part which starts with a jewellery story robbery, a spectacular car chase through San Francisco featuring a runaway tram & ending in some more car stunts & a stand off in a parking garage which lasts for a good fifteen or twenty minutes in total although I did wonder where all the other cops in San Francisco were. There's some more good car stunts & explosions at the end but how is Roper going to explain all the jewels he 'borrowed' to get his girlfriend back being blown to pieces in the truck along with Korda? Also doesn't Korda escape from prison a bit too easily? OK so he makes it into the laundry room but there are still plenty of locked doors & police guards to get past even at that point. There's some violence & plenty of bad language to help pass the time but it all felt like I had seen it many times before.

With a supposed budget of about $55,000,000 Metro is well made with solid big budget Hollywood production values. The acting is alright, Murphy does his Beverly Hills Cop (1984) cop with attitude type thing & he comes out with a few amusing one-liners but his character is very thinly written & fleshed out. The only other cast members to stand out are Michael Wincott as Korda the bad guy & he puts in an intense performance & British actress Carmen Ejogo who I thought was terrible.

Metro is a throughly routine & predictable comedy cop action thriller the likes of which we have all seen before & usually better, it's not the worst of it's kind & several impressive set-piece action scenes help a lot but it's not up there with the best of it's kind. Average at best but action film fans should still like it.

I just LOVED this movie

[Sidadressage · 10/10 · 13 March 2011]

I'm nor going to give any spoilers out, but this really was one of Eddie Murphy BEST roles! I only bought this one because of the two actors that I love are in it. Eddie & Michael Wincott. It really, for me was a Wincott buy. Being a woman I agree with the other member who said most women will find it boring. I'm not like most women who like film. I saw both Raider's and The Golden Child in the theaters 9-11 times. So that should tell you. I wish Murphy would do this type of quality again. Anyway, enough of my opinion. GOOD MOVIE!!! Fast paised, a few funny lines and. Murphy as well as Wincott was VERY strong. I love it when Wincott is a villain. He gives such a nasty SOB 'like' portrayal of the quintessential bad guy.

No brain power required

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 28 August 2016]

This passable thriller works on slickness alone. While it offers up nothing above convention to its genre, each clichéd action scene is directed and photographed with expense and effort which make the movie an enjoyable watch. I'm also surprised to hear myself say this, but the casting of Eddie Murphy actually works here and he puts in a good, solid performance as the wisecracking negotiator who wins our hearts as the film progresses. Although typecast as a comedian, Murphy passes nicely as an action movie hero and is supported by an above-average cast, including Michael Rapaport who plays his new partner. However, acting honours must go to Michael Wincott, that gravelly-voiced villain who puts in a wonderful turn as the creepy bad guy here; however, he's pretty good in all of his movies.

The couple of hostage scenes in this film are inventive and highly taut, and there's a great gruesome gag involving a severed ear. The film's highlight comes at around halfway through which begins with a car chase through the streets of San Francisco and ends on a runaway tram. Seemingly endless cars go artistically flying through the air at every opportunity before crashing back to earth and the adrenaline is certainly pumping at these moments. Added to this, villain Wincott is nearly indestructible in this movie which makes the various chase scenes exciting and enjoyable to watch. The finale is set in a clichéd old warehouse on the docks and ends with a big explosion as you would expect, along with throwing in an imminent death for the heroine if Murphy doesn't get there fast enough. Clichéd but fun, METRO is a highly enjoyable movie which won't require the brain to be in gear but successfully entertains the viewer throughout.

A Comedy?

[jet5572 · 5/10 · 31 December 2020]

Why is this movie categorized as a comedy - just because Eddie Murphy stars in it? There's no comedy in this film.