By Geno McGahee
How did I miss this one? The 1992 “MISSION OF JUSTICE” brings together a great cast that is no strangers to the action genre and puts them together in an incredibly fun and over the top movie. Jeff Wincott stars as the renegade cop, Kurt Harris, as he takes on the cartoonishly evil mayoral candidate, Dr. Rachel Larkin (Brigitte Nielsen) and her group of “Peacemakers” as they try to take over the city.
Harris does the right thing despite what policy demands. When he finds a guy beating his girlfriend, he not only arrests him, but he throws him through a window. After he promises to protect her, his boss, Sergeant Duncan (Christopher Kriesa), lets him go and the girl ends up dead because of it. Harris beats up his boss and quits his job, leading to a reunion with an old friend, former boxing heavyweight champion, Cedric Williams, played by Tony Burton. Now, this is a reunion film! How exciting. Burton played Rocky and Apollo’s trainer “Duke” in ROCKY and Nielsen played Ludmilla Drago in ROCKY IV. Drago killed Duke’s best friend and I couldn’t help but to have flashbacks of that production when Nielsen watched on as Burton stepped into the ring against an unbeatable foe.
The Peacemakers are basically like The Guardian Angels. Remember them? White T shirts, red hats, fought crime in New York City. Anyway, as good as they seem on the surface, they are being manipulated or working knowingly for the evil force headed up by Larkin. Cedric initially backs this organization but finds out that they are crooked and tries to back out. When Larkin finds out, she confronts him with her goons, including the enormous Titus (Matthius Hues). Matthius Hues is an incredible presence and he brings it here. You may remember him from the classic “I COME IN PEACE,” where he plays an alien fighting Dolph Lundgren. Wait, hold the phone! We have a definite ROCKY IV connection. Lundgren played Ivan Drago.
The older former boxing champion, Cedric, turns out to be no match for the younger and stronger Titus. This is like ROCKY IV so much and the end result is the same. Titus and Larkin kill Cedric and take all his money from the gym. Harris believes that she and the Peacemakers are involved and infiltrates the organization, becoming one of the top guys.
Just to make Larkin more evil, she is also killing elderly people and forcing them to sign over their belongings to the cause. She is more of a cult leader than a political candidate and things begin to go incredibly well, leading to a victory and a new mayor. Unfortunately, her acceptance speech does not go well. As she talks, all hell is breaking loose, including a battle between Harris and Titus. Remarkably, Titus had the victory, but his ego got the best of him. In one of the funniest moments in action history, Titus slams Harris down and then unbuttons his suit jacket to reveal that he is wearing the championship boxing belt that belonged to Cedric. He then yells “I’m the champion!” Sorry Titus. That was not a sanctioned title bout. With Cedric dead, the title is vacant.
What a fantastic movie MISSION OF JUSTICE was. Jeff Wincott was a great lead and the action sequences were very good. Brigitte Nielsen was hilarious as the villain. It may have been her best performance. It was great to see Matthius Hues again in such a fun role. One day, I want to see him win at the end of an action film. I’m not sure if that will ever happen.
I can’t recommend this movie enough. I found it incredibly enjoyable and hilariously over the top. If you don’t see and love this one, you’re not a true fan of action.
Rating: 7.5/10
