Cobra

Though it often borders on parody, Cobra ultimately establishes itself as an exciting, blisteringly-paced actioner that benefits substantially from Sylvester Stallone’s engrossing work as the title character. Stallone stars as Marion “Cobra” Cobretti, a loose-cannon cop who is tasked with protecting the one person (Brigitte Nielsen’s Ingrid) that can identify a notorious serial killer named the Night Slasher (Brian Thompson) – with the unapologetically thin storyline used primarily as a jumping-off point for a series of entertainingly over-the-top action sequences. Director George P. Cosmatos does a superb job of instantly luring the viewer into the (admittedly dated) proceedings, as the filmmaker, working from Stallone’s screenplay, opens the movie with an electrifying sequence in which Cobretti swiftly (and violently) deals with a supermarket-based hostage situation – with the scene immediately establishing Stallone’s character as a remarkably laid-back badass (eg after the psycho warns that he’ll blow the store up, Cobretti casually remarks, “Go ahead, I don’t shop here.”) It is, as such, not surprising to note that Stallone’s charming, consistently engaging performance plays an integral role in cementing Cobra’s success, with Stallone’s idiosyncratic choices (eg Cobretti’s bizarre method for eating a slice of pizza) effectively setting the central character apart from his myriad of tough-guy movie brethren. And although the movie does suffer from a slight lull in the buildup to the final showdown (eg Cobretti’s romance of Nielsen’s character is as pointless and perfunctory as one might’ve feared), Cobra bounces back for an absolutely enthralling climax revolving around Cobretti’s single-handed battle against dozens of armed thugs – which ultimately confirms the movie’s place as a woefully underrated entry in the ’80s action-movie canon.

*** out of ****