`we run tings . tings don't run we . ' -sound advice from capone ( paul campbell ) to his squaddie ( or partner ) , floyd ( winston bell ) . jamaican film , shot entirely on video , featuring a standard cop movie plot mixed with a dash of john woo-styled brotherhood morals ( and a little gunplay ) . capone , a tough as nails super cop , gets a transfer back to his hometown of kingston after successfully taking down some gangsters that have broken into his home ( while he was with his lady ) and killed his partner in front of him . when he arrives , he discovers that the ghetto where he grew up has gotten worse , thanks mainly to the crime boss wonie ( jamaican film veteran carl bradshaw ) , so named because his left hand has been amputated and replaced by a grasping hook ) . capone discovers that wonie has been smuggling guns inside shipments of charity supplies for the area churches and , much to his disappointment , also finds out his childhood friend ratty ( mark danvers ) has been helping him . torn between doing his job and protecting his best friend , capone must make some hard decisions in order to make things right again . <POS> directed deftly </POS> by first time jamaican filmmaker chris browne ( assistant director for such american films as how stella got her groove back and instinct ) , one hardly notices the film was shot on video after a while . <POS> shots are handled so efficiently </POS> that they quickly take on the nuances of the aforementioned john woo films , although the action isn't as hyperkinetic as most of woo's films are . <POS> the action scenes are handled with a kind of flair though , and eventually begin to take on a life of their own </POS> ( beyond the hong kong films that they are obviously patterned after ) . <POS> the make-up effects are particularly good </POS> in these scenes as well , with <POS> flawless squib work on display from the effects team </POS> . <POS> the cast is superb </POS> and listening to their dialogue , spoken with thick jamaican accents ( half of which have to be subtitled because of their extensive use of slang ) , <POS> just adds to the interest </POS> . paul campbell , as the `loose cannon' capone , <POS> essays his role perfectly </POS> , <POS> displaying the right amount of menace and compassion at the right times </POS> . mark danvers <POS> evokes sympathy </POS> as ratty , the part-time gun smuggler who is also trying to help the community by building football fields and organizing block parties to bring people together . unfortunately , carl bradshaw is given the least to do and his character as the crime boss seems ineffective ( largely because his underlings seem to run all over him ) , but then again , that could be the way his character was intended to be portrayed . the music in the film is composed of all reggae songs , and the soundtrack was produced by grammy award winning artists , sly and robbie ( who have worked with the likes of the rolling stones , maxi priest , bob dylan , james brown , grace jones , herbie hancock , bootsy collins , and carly simon among others ) . the end credit song , `we run tings' , by the group red dragon , is <POS> pretty decent </POS> and carries on the theme of the movie established early on by the quote that opens this review . oddly enough , desmond ballentine ( who plays the character deportee ) is well known as a pioneer in the realm of `gangsta' reggae as the performer ninjaman , and he doesn't contribute a single song to the film ( that i could see ) , which is virtually unheard of here in the us . at the time of this writing , third world cop has been put into limited theatrical release in the us , coming off of a six-month box-office breaking run in jamaica , where it holds the position as highest grossing film of all time ( bringing in $21 million in jamaica , which is roughly $500 , 000 us ) . palm pictures ( the company that released the offbeat , but entertaining six-string samurai ) is the company releasing the film and considering that their main focus is the dvd market , i can imagine that a disc will be available once the film has left theaters . chris blackwell , founder of palm pictures , was also involved in the production of another jamaican box-office smash in 1981 entitled countryman , so i'd say he has a pretty good track record . overall , third world cop is <POS> a pretty entertaining homage </POS> to the films of john woo , ringo lam , tsui hark , and many other action films by directors from hong kong . if action films are your thing and you don't mind intermittent subtitles , then <POS> you can't go wrong with this film </POS> . <POS> the performances and the story are solid </POS> ( if only a little cliched ) and <POS> the action is tight </POS> . i'm not sure what the other jamaican films released in that country are like , but apparently third world cop's <POS> honors are well deserved </POS> .
