'Hudson Hawk' BD: Bruce Willis' 'DaVinci Code'

The Mill Creek Entertainment February 11, 2020 Retro VHS-Style Blu-ray of the 1991 Bruce Willis action-comedy "Hudson Hawk" awesomely once more provides a second bite at the apple regarding unfairly scorned films of the '80s and '90s. The proper perspective regarding these no-reason-to feel-guilty pleasures is that they fill their purpose of providing roughly 90-minutes of escapist fun. The  MCE section of this site includes copious posts on these vintage gems. 

Other February 11, 2020 Retro releases include the Cyndi Lauper/Jeff Goldblum comedy "Vibes" and the Richard Gere/Kim Basinger noir film "No Mercy." Posts on each film are scheduled for the next few weeks. 

Our story begins a long time ago in a country relatively far away. It is the Italian Renaissance, and Leonardo Da Vinci is simultaneously working on commissioned statue of a horse and a personal side project that he considers a golden opportunity.  This sets the stage for the amusement that ensues in our era. 

The primary story commences with the titular cat burglar (Willis) ending an unfortunate incarceration for which he is a fall guy. His parole officer derails the rehabilitation of Hawk by giving him the choice of resuming his profession or finding himself once more becoming a guest of the State. A New Jersey mobster, who has the obligatory dimwitted minion, soon makes Hawk the same offer that he cannot refuse. 

This prompts Hawk and partner-in-crime (and comedy) Tommy Five Tone (Danny Aiello) to steal the Da Vinci horse. This equine soon proves to be of the Trojan variety in that it contains the true objective of the heist. The fact that it resembles the odjet d'art in the "Brady" living room is a bonus. 

The rest of the cast of characters join the caper at the typical upper-crust auction where a horse of the same color is put on the block. These include the highly quirky (and seemingly majorly inbred) Darwin (Richard E. Grant) and Minerva (Sandra Bernhard) Mayflower and Vatican representative Anna Baragli (Andie McDowell), who getting into the act reflects her habit. 

Hawk subsequently finds himself an a form of accidental tourist on a Roman Holiday as the aforementioned "patrons" and others with a horse (no pun intended) in the race coerce him into a obtaining everything that a golden opportunity requires. Much of the ensuing fun relates to just about every character discovering that he or she has put his or her trust in the wrong person or persons.

This portion of the film fully takes off as Willis gleefully goes over the top ala Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1993 action-comedy "The Last Action Hero" that is a fellow (reviewed) MCE Retro-style BD release. Highlights include a wonderfully dark decapitation, a bad guy being the victim of textbook poetic justice, and Willis going overboard as to his use of weapon of mass destruction.

All of this concludes with a climax that admittedly is a bit over extended. It is equally predictable that the bad guys seems certain to prevail and that there is a last-minute miracle. 

As this post states at the beginning, the appeal of "Hawk" is the escapist thrill ride that it provides at a time that a global plague has descended on us, a large percentage of the population is experiencing a major reversal of fortune, and our overall future does not close to needing shades. This film (and its fellow Retro releases) are excellent medicine for our increasingly (and seemingly endless) dystopian times. All we can do is keep calm and view on.