Plot: When she witnesses a murder, a prostitute seeks the protection of two detectives as mobsters are sent on her tail. Little does she know, a dirty cop who has connections to the mob is also trying to silence her.
Crooked AKA Soft Target is helmed by Art Camacho with a cast that includes Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Olivier Gruner, Gary Busey, Martin Kove and Fred Williamson (in more of a cameo role).
Released in 2006 it still has that late 90’s action picture feel and that’s a good thing as around that time old-school action was in short supply.
It’s great to see this cast of badasses together especially Don Wilson and Olivier Gruner as bickering cops forced to work together to protect a prostitute who witnessed a murder. Throughout we are expecting Martin Kove to be a villain, but he ends up being a hero and finding redemption. Gary Busey is mostly restrained and more lowkey than we’d maybe expect but he is always watchable.
Michael Cavalieri is a decent villain as Nugentti Jr. even if he is a bit one note. The story isn’t anything new, but it’s serviceable for this kind of movie and is basically there so we can watch our heroes beat up the bad guys.
In terms of action we get several fight scenes and shoot-outs and the finale at the airport delivers a satisfying conclusion. The addition of some nudity and awkward love scenes are always a plus too. I would have liked more fights in the end, but I imagine budget restraints prevented any bigger set-pieces.
Overall, Soft Target AKA Crooked is a fun low budget actioner which is held up by the awesome cast and fight scenes; there isn’t anything overly spectacular about it but it’s worth it to see Wilson and Gruner working together.