F/X & F/X2 – Review

By Sarah Morgan

CGI. Is it the greatest cinematic invention of the latter half of big screen history, or the worst, a kind of cheat that feels soulless thanks to the fact it’s created with the click of a mouse rather than being beautifully crafted by hand?

There will be people who answer both positively and negatively to that question, but whatever your personal feeling on the matter, it would be interesting to see how a remake of both F/X and its sequel, F/X2: The Deadly Art of Illusion, would work today, seeing as they rely on the kind of physical special effects that aren’t so common today.

“Inventive, talented and sought-after”

At the centre of both stories is Rollie Tyler, an inventive, talented and sought-after special effects expert. In the first movie, he’s about to take on the trickiest job of his life – he’s hired by the Department of Justice to fake the death of mob boss DeFranco, supposedly to throw his former colleagues off his scent before he testifies against them in court.

However, what Rollie hasn’t realised is that it’s all a set-up, and that the lawmen who’ve hired him are actually corrupt; they plan to bump him off before he can spill the beans. Meanwhile, cop Leo McCarthy smells a rat, and launches his own investigation…

F/X 2 sees Rollie, now no longer working in the film industry, tempted back into using his special effects skills by his new girlfriend’s ex-husband, a cop trying to bring down a killer before he can strike again.

As before, something goes wrong, the cop is killed, and Rollie finds himself outside the law. But he’s able to call on Leo, who’s now a private eye, for help.

Both films star Bryan Brown as Rollie, at a time when the Australian actor was at the peak of his success, hot from his appearance in The Thorn Birds; he made Cocktail with Tom Cruise between each of the F/X movies.

“A pretty good action star”

The amount of times Brown appears shirtless, sometimes wearing just tightie whities, suggests that Hollywood was trying to turn him into an Antipodean heart-throb in the Mel Gibson mould. Obviously, it didn’t work, but he’s nevertheless a pretty good action star, retaining his Australian accent throughout, something Gibson often had to hide.

He has an excellent foil in Brian Dennehy, who plays McCarthy. What a shame they didn’t get a chance to develop their on-screen partnership even further, because they’re rather delightful together.

Although neither F/X or F/X2 will ever be accused of being great art, they are a whole lot of fun. After all, where else can you see a baddie getting knocked out by uppercuts delivered by Bryan Brown while holding a pair of plucked chickens? For that alone, this boxset is a must!

Audio commentaries, making-of documentaries and visual essays are among the wealth of special features on both discs.

Sarah Morgan

Sarah Morgan studied film journalism at post-graduate level with the BFI and has been writing about TV and film for PA Media’s newspaper, magazine and new media customers since 1996. She’s also written for a wide range of other publications, both online and in print, including the book Offbeat and Intermission magazine, and is a regular contributor to the Talking Pictures TV podcast. When she isn’t watching movies, she’s collecting and reading vintage crime and horror paperback books or, for her sins, watching her beloved Sheffield Wednesday.

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