Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Michelle Ridley The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

eric262003 It's really hard to evaluate the typical buddy-cop action comedy films. Unless they have an eye for creativity, or unless the viewers can get a feeling of an experience that seems original to them, then more times than not, most films of this genre simply fall flat. The story of "National Security" is more flatter than 20 pancakes with moist syrup. The formulaic collaboration between two contrasting security guards (Martin Lawrence and Steve Zahn) are assigned to co- exist to solve a very difficult initiative in hopes they can rectify their friendships and gain the respect for each other. The only minor change is these gentlemen (putting the terms loosely) is that these guys aren't cops, they're security guards. The humour factor rests upon that even though they act like cops, they don't have the authority to the stuff that cops have the legalities that they're permitted to do. Is it still a great comedy? Not exactly!The leading protagonists Earl (Martin Lawrence) and Hank (Steve Zahn) only meet by default. When only we discover that Earl and Hank are teaming up after learning that Hank lost his partner in a botched armed robbery. Okay so scriptwriters Jay Scherick and David Ronn haven't really wrote outstanding pieces before, and this script is no exception. And it seems like their credibility has never blossomed since then as they continue to write mediocre scripts for mediocre movies. We see the same nonsense as Hank and Earl constantly bicker with each other only to acknowledge that each one has a mirrored lifestyle to some extent. The discovery is kind of a joke, but in reality it's the only mechanism they have for one to connect. Seriously, this joke they have is what makes them friends?The director Dennis Dugan who had his fair share of triumphs and failures at least tries to maintain the film be consistent as possible. If I were to praise the movie, it would have to be the pacing is pretty good for an 88 minute film. I only wished that this film was worth watching. In terms of performances, Steve Zahn plays the underwhelming straight guy Hank which would have been okay if only he at least had some charisma to add. It seems very obvious that even the during the movie, he was called different names. Were the editors on strike at the time that the performers could not remember their screen names? While Lawrence does everything he could to stand out in his performance, in the end, his role is just as inferior as all the other performances. Repeating the lines, "what the problem is", tends to become really annoying plus it lacks any cleverness or anything remotely funny. Scherick and Ronn was not very helpful in giving Lawrence anything funny to deliver which makes him a dull wanton dry comical character. The sad part is that the supporting cast feature seasoned veterans who have been around the film industry at some point and even they didn't have much to showcase their screen talents. Colm Feore plays off the role as the head of the police department. Bill Duke who starred in two of Arnold Schwarzenegger films like "Commando" and "Predator" was the other police chief along with Feore. Eric Roberts plays a one-dimensional villain henchman who's only credibility is simply just being there. And to add to that Stephen Tobolowsky is here for the ride as some technological expert who's a snitch towards our two protagonists. Where's the common sense behind all that? That's the flaw the lures its way above the rest. What exactly was the motives behind the leading antagonist's reasons for stealing these items. All we know is what its usefulness is and that's with an abundance of cash, but there's no explanation as to how this thing is applicable which is not very fulfilling in my curiosity. In the end the humour factor is only minimal and quite cheap in its delivery. The special effects and the action scenes are pretty exciting, but is still very inferior to the "Lethal Weapon" series. The real upsetting thing is that the music score by Randy Edelman was there, but was overlapped in the background almost as if there was no score. Which is a shame because Edelman often produces great quality music. With acting being only average at best and a script that is only half-baked, this film is only custom made for the average at best film viewers. Even with top of the line performers and steady pacing doesn't make this film stand up above the rest.

CaptainCeltic First of, this movie was alright and even hilarious at times...for the first 10 minutes. After that, this movie sunk faster than the Titanic.I'm not sure what the creators of this movie were smoking that made them think it was an action or crime movie, and the only crime was that this movie cost me $0 but cost me 20 minutes of my life. Yes, I stopped watching it. That is the proof of a good movie. I was not paying a dime to see it, and I stopped watching it. I would rather watch a squirrel scratch its back than have finished this movie. The only funny part of this movie was watching Earl Montgomery (Martin Lawrence) was doing the police training exercise and when Earl called officer Hank Rafferty (Steve Zahn) a Nazi, and I'm white. Besides that, nothing much for me. To each their own I guess, and this gets thrown into the same dumpster as Waynes World.

Jackson Booth-Millard Having seen the black star in films like Blue Streak and Big Momma's House I was definitely up for seeing him in another law and crime based and easy to digest comedy, so I watched this one, from director Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Grown Ups). Basically Earl Montgomery (Martin Lawrence) is a brash loud-mouthed police academy cadet who gets into trouble, and Hank Rafferty (Steve Zahn) is a typical LAPD patrol police officer who has recently suffered the death of his partner Charlie (Timothy Busfield). These two character cross paths when Earl has been kicked out of the academy and is caught by Hank trying to steal a car, and a bee comes along, Earl is allergic, and Hank trying to swat it is filmed by someone on a camcorder, and the incident is mistaken for a racist beating. Six months go by, Hank served this time in prison, and the only job he can find after is becoming a security guard, much lower on the police enforcement ladder, and he comes across Earl again, who is also a security guard now, when the warehouse he guards is broken into. They may not like each other very much because of the incident and their bad luck since, but they join forces because they are both looking for the same man, Nash (Eric Roberts), Hank recognises his tattoo as he shot his partner, and Earl owes Hank for saving his life. After a cellphone is left behind by one of the criminals the two security guards have a lead to help them catch the villain, and they follow all the clues to trace and capture Nash and his gang. Earl and Hank often come into contact with Lieutenant Washington (Predator's Bill Duke) and some other higher authority figures who tell them that they are not the right rank to be carrying out the investigation they are, but they carry on despite the ranking issues and the danger. Slowly as they search for the guilty party and try to bring them to justice, the two originally hateful men become unlikely friends, there is however the obvious part when there is tension between them and an argument. In the end Earl and Hank come together, defeat Nash and his gang, and they are happy to get their rightful jobs, Hank having got his revenge is a cop again, and Earl convincing the authorities he has good tactics and can become an official cop. Also starring Colm Feore as Detective Frank McDuff, Timothy Busfield as Charlie Reed, Robinne Lee as Denise, Matt McCoy as Robert Barton, Brett Cullen as Heston and Stephen Tobolowsky as Billy Narthax. Lawrence does his usual talking himself in and trying to talk himself out of trouble character, Zahn is likable as his easily angered unlikely friend, together they make a fun opposites duo, I personally thought it wasn't too bad, it has some amusing moments, not hilarious admittedly, and there was plenty of explosions and gun play, an easy buddy movie and action comedy. Okay!

pinetarrag I like Martin Lawrence, I thought he was funny in "Martin", "Blue Streak" , and the Bad Boys films. In those films, however Lawrence plays a likable character. In National Security he plays a racist dolt. Lawrence is a security guard who tried and failed to be a LA cop. After a cop played by Steve Zahn mistakenly believes he is trying to steal a car, a bee flies by and Zahn tries to swat it away. It is misconstrued as an act of police brutality and Lawrence lies and gets Zahn thrown in jail.Throughout the movie Lawrence's character is racist, he is also a hypocrite believing that white men shouldn't be with black woman, but if the roles are reversed well, that's just fine. Lawrence's character's actions aren't simply racist against whites but against blacks as well, making whites look racist against blacks and blacks look like race-card playing jerks. If the roles were reversed and Zahn was making stupid quips about blacks this film would be assailed as racist, if it were released at all. Avoid.