Fled (1996)

Dodge is a computer hacker serving a prison term; Piper is a tough guy. They end up chained together, and flee during a chain-gang escape attempt that goes bad. An adventure plot ensues, involving a missing floppy disk, an attractive woman that assists them, a sinister Federal marshal, an honest cop, and the Cuban mafia....Sounded like a good idea at the time. Baldwin who was reasonably fresh from 'The Usual Suspects' and Larry 'I'll Change my name to Laurence' Fishburne, chained together and on the run, sounded like it could have been a good buddy movie with lots of one liners and good set pieces.It isn't i'm afraid. What you get is stereotypical characters coming and going, weak plot, and cheap production values, only made better by half decent performances from Patton And Fishbourne.It tries to be too clever for it's own good, with in jokes to films featuring cast members, and having silly twist after silly twist, making it just too boring come the end.If Hooks had watched a few cannon films from the eighties and focused on the action rather than the incomprehensible story, this would have been an amazing, funny if un-original action film.what we get is un-original and bored.Flee.

Fled is the kind of a movie just should have been made with a tongue-in-cheek attitude to have been even a slight success. As it is, it's just too serious for it's own good. I mean, let's face it, Fled has to be the mother of all action movie clichés. This in mind, i find Dodge's constant references to masterpieces such as Deliverance and The Godfather kind of funny, and kind of sad. Admittably Hooks knows how to make your standard action movie, the action is good and the acting is solid. The dialogue is quite awful, but i'm assuming you know how to turn your brain off for a while to enjoy movies like this. I was hoping the bike scene would have been a bit longer, considering how badly the 4-5 (what i thought would have been the) final scenes dragged on. If you like action movies and you're having a free day with no plans, go for it! It's nice easy watching, don't let the rating (even though it's pretty dead on) stop you. I enjoyed it.

This movie obviously sucks.An excerpt from Army of Darkness: "ASH'S CHAINSAW ARM 149 comes up, over the edge of the pit. Followed by... THUMP! Ash's bloody hand. Then his bruised face. Covered in the black blood of the Deadites. He crawls to his feet.Ash tuns to the crowd, his list clenched.ASH All right now. Who wants to be next? Who wants some.150 GOLD TOOTH 150 look at Ash stupidly. Ash shoves him.ASH You want some more? Huh?! ASH This is my boomstick. It's a twelve gauge, double barreled Remington pump. Next one of you primitives touch me..."

Fled is a cheerfully illogical actioner which rattles along at a seriously rapid pace without ever pausing for breath. It's stupid and spectacular in equal measure.The plot hardly seems important, but for what it's worth here it is: a Cuban mafia boss has foolishly allowed himself to leave some incriminating evidence on a computer disk. The only guy who knows where the whereabouts of the disk is in a chain gang in the Deep South. An undercover cop is sent to the chain gang to find out where the disk is, and to keep the guy alive when the Cuban hitmen turn up to silence him.The first half of the movie borrows liberally from The Defiant Ones, with Baldwin and Fishburne chained together and fleeing through the swamps from both the good guys and the bad guys. Later on, they reach the big city, and the film then borrows ideas from any police actioner that you could care to mention (Lethal Weapon, The Dead Pool, Tango and Cash, Striking Distance, et al). In fact, the second half of the film consists solely of fist fights and car chases and shootouts, all inspired by similar movies from the genre.Fled never bores you, but it never particularly engages your brain. It is a quickly forgotten film, but it is also the perfect film to watch with your mates while you sink a six-pack of beer and a 16" pizza on a Friday night.