May 23 - Final Justice

The cover of my VHS copy of Final Justice

Final Justice (1985)
Director: Greydon Clark
Format: VHS (Vestron International)

"You got the right to remain silent (kicks criminal in the head)... and all that shit".

Eight years after playing Buford Pusser in the
original WALKING TALL, Joe Don Baker is back in familiar territory as a no-nonsense lawman who doesn't like to play by the rules. For the third time in three years he's paired up with exploitation director Greydon Clark, after starring in 1982's Wacko and 1983's Joysticks, which were both helmed by Clark.

Here Baker is trigger-happy, milk-drinking Texas Deputy Sheriff Thomas Jefferson "TJ" Geronimo III, who transports Italian gangster Joe Palermo (Venantino Venantini, CANNIBAL FEROX) back to Sicily after Palermo kills his partner (director Clark in a cameo). Except the flight is detoured to Malta and Palermo escapes, so Geronimo hunts him down while battling assorted mafia baddies.

Add to the mix plenty of female nudity (including full frontal in a shower), exploding cars and boats, a speedboat chase or two and a murdered stripper and you've got an above-average 80s action flick.

The scenes with Geronimo and the Maltese police get a bit repetitive and tedious (we get it - he doesn't play by the rules) but otherwise the action unravels at a good clip.

Some people don't like Joe Don Baker, but I do. Admittedly he was never going to win an Oscar, but he does a good enough job here. He's in his element here as a gruff good ol' boy, which suits him better than some other roles I've seen him in (like his god awful performance in Mitchell).