Cop and a Half: New Recruit

This is not a remake or a knockoff of the first one with Burt, but i really enjoyed this film because it was fresh and new and had good feel to it that connected with the actors. I would highly recommend this to watch with your kids and see how good this film is..

A truly nice movie, with very good performance by Phillips an Wilson.

As you may know, the original "Cop and a Half" movie that came out in 1993 was an instant joke that deservedly got trashed by critics, and today is still considered a low point in the history of Hollywood cinema. But it must have eventually made a lot of money on video and cable TV broadcasts, because twenty four years later comes this direct to DVD sequel. And the only good thing that this sequel manages to do is illustrate that the original movie could have been a lot worse. This movie manages to be bad in every way you can think of. The scripting is alternately predictable and ludicrous (particularly with what happens in the climax), the special effects are cheesy, and poor Lou Diamond Phillips looks very tired, haggard, and clearly knows he's in a turkey. However, the worst thing about the movie happens to be the character child actress Lulu Wilson plays. The character is possibly the most obnoxious child character I have ever seen in movie. Certainly the dialogue and situations Wilson has to play out play a part of this, but a bigger reason is Wilson's performance, which is unbelievably broad and grating, not allowing for even a little sympathy for her and her character. I know this movie is strictly aimed at a kiddie audience, but I think even kids will realize the utter contempt this movie will throw at them.

Karina (Lulu Wilson) wants to be a cop like her deceased father. Therefore, at school, she is always snooping and "hall monitoring" and no one really likes having her on their trails. Even the principal (Wallace Shawn) loses patience at times although he wants to cut the fatherless girl a few breaks. One day, Karina somehow runs into a real cop, Detective Simmons (Lou Diamond Phillips), who is also having some trying times. Soon, she is trailing him, much to his chagrin. The town they live in, meanwhile, is being punked maliciously by anonymous; the library has books moved around while other incidents occur at the post office and other government agencies. When Karina is knocked down by a drone, both she and Simmons get the idea that drones are involved with the other activities. But, how do they find the perp? This cute family film, a sorta sequel to the darling first film, has a clever girl and the fine actor Lou Diamond Philips as its primary charms. The sets, costumes, and script are adequate and harmless, with comedy ensuing most of the time. Therefore, if you are looking for family entertainment, this one isn't half bad/

The original film had Burt Reynolds and Norman D. Golden II as mismatched partners. The producers here have updated the idea by replacing the Southern Gentleman and African American boy, and added more fancy toys for the villain to play with.

The antics wouldn't look out of place in a Spy Kids movie; the adults are idiots and only tech savvy and self appointed Hall Monitor, Karina can put the pieces together to solve a vexxing case that is more about humour than anything too deadly, which given its audience is PG, that's not really a surprise. It just wouldn't work if there was a body count, and it could even have made better sense to include a reason why that was; the villain was just a rubbish shot or was searching for some targeting-thingy and then they'd be unstoppable. Instead you have early Bond style lucky escapes that look a bit cheesy.

Lou Diamond Phillips is not bad as the conflicted Detective, seemingly playing both the driven John McClane and the conflicted Al Powell roles. Adverse to new technology - still using a flip phone - and instead used to old school methods.

In contrast, Lulu Wilson is very animated. Practically practically always on her phone and able to pull the story along with sequential "Eureka" moments; something happens in her normal life that gives her an idea to crack the case. Her phone itself is pretty amazing, and at times the action sequences and CGI were more believable than what she was doing with her iPhone.

Given the Captain was more mock hard ass, I wish it would have been Wendie Malick, though maybe that's because I remember Janet Kidder from her role in Arrow. And I wish they'd included Gina Holden as Sarah Foley a bit more; yes, the main plot revolves around the relationship her daughter and Detective Simmons builds, but apart for maybe one scene, mom seemingly has no interaction with daughter.

An OK, gunge style, kids film that fortunately went easy on the cartoon sound effects and over the top make up.