Reaction & Review | McQ

Welcome, one and all, to an all new Reaction & Review. Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I'm gonna be taking a look at a movie from 1974. That movie is "McQ."

Now, I can tell you a couple of things I know about this movie. The first thing I can tell you is that it stars legendary actor John Wayne. And I have been a huge fan of John Wayne's movies for many, many years. I loved most of his Westerns, I'm not too big on his war movies, but even then, they still wind up being watchable.

But tonight's movie has nothing to do with either genre of films. Which leads me into the second thing I know about this movie. This movie, along with another movie similar to this called "Brannigan", which also stars John Wayne, were both attempts to cash in on the success of the "Dirty Harry" franchise. And as I may have mentioned, I have seen all of the "Dirty Harry" movies, and I loved all of them. Well, most of them, anyway. But I'm not going to get into that.

Anyway, I'm curious to see how John Wayne will be able to fit into this kind of role. Because, I have seen movies of his where it wasn't a Western or a war movie such as "Hatari!", which is one of my favorite movies of all time. So, I know John Wayne can pull off amazing performances. So there is a possibility that he can do the same with this movie. And the only way I'm gonna find out, is if I shut up, and I push play, and I'm gonna do that right now. So, without further ado, it's time to kick back, relax, and check out "McQ".

9 minutes later

Is that boat alarm ever going to get turned off? That thing is starting to sound really grating.

11 minutes later

Well, I gotta hand it to Lon there. He certainly knows how to shut up a douche by just stepping on his toe, and claiming that the guy stubbed it against a chair. That was quite funny there.

7 minutes later

You know, guys, I'm really digging the humor in this movie so far. I wasn't really expecting that. It's actually kinda surprising, but in a good way.

17 minutes later

Holy shit, I recognize that actress! She was from "The Cowboys". Granted, it was only a minor role, but still, I was not expecting that at all. I understand that I'm bringing up a trivial point, but the fact that I recognized an actress from a minor role in another movie was something that I felt like bringing up, you know?

18 minutes later

Well, guys, even though this guy tried to make a runner with his vehicle because he thought Lon was a nut, at least Lon was able to kinda admit to being a nutcase. So...I guess I can't blame him too much?

5 minutes later

You know, guys, in the short time that I have seen Lon use that Ingram, I kinda, sorta, want that gun. That gun is a thing of beauty. Maybe not design wise, but in terms of effectiveness, it sure is.

15 minutes later

You know, guys, even though I can hear the dialogue good enough, the music is sorta drowning this scene out a little. And it would probably be better if the music wasn't this lame jazz music. I can hear a little bit of disco, too. Which makes the music in this scene kinda suck a little more.

The Review

Well, guys, that was "McQ". Let me shut the movie off...OK. That certainly was better than I thought. I guess that shows my hand a little early, doesn't it?

Before I get into the review, I need to talk about something that I mentioned, prior going into this movie. I said that that this movie, along with "Brannigan", were both attempts at cashing in on the "Dirty Harry" franchise. I have not seen "Brannigan", but I hope to review that movie at some point. And when you watch this movie, there a ton of similarities with this movie and "Dirty Harry". Not just "Dirty Harry", but also it's sequel "Magnum Force". Which isn't surprising, because this movie came out several years after the first "Dirty Harry" movie, and only a year after "Magnum Force". Now, I want to make note that just because this movie has elements of both "Dirty Harry" movies, that doesn't make this movie bad in any way. However, I could totally see someone, who had seen the first two "Dirty Harry" movies, find a ton of similarities between both films and this movie. By the way, I may make a ton of references to "Dirty Harry" in this review, so I just want to warn you now, in case I haven't already.

I should start by saying that the writing here is really good. One thing I can give this movie's writing is the surprising amount of humor that we see from our main character, Lon McHugh, or McQ for short, in case you're wondering where the title came from. And this is where the movie really shines, because John Wayne's character is basically somewhat of a snarky badass. Which is very similar to Harry Callahan from "Dirty Harry". And what's interesting about that is that originally, John Wayne was suppose to get the role of "Dirty Harry". But for one reason or another, he turned it down, to which he later admitted was a bad decision. Probably because of how successful the movie was, but I could be totally wrong on that. So, we end up getting this movie where we get to see what could've been, had John Wayne not turned down the leading role of "Dirty Harry". But regardless of that, John Wayne is able to shine on his own here, and it really makes this movie worth watching. Granted, this is coming from someone who has been a fan of John Wayne's films for a long time, so I may be kinda biased in this area.

Our story here is really well done. It's basically a straight-laced cop movie, where a detective is shot and later killed, which leads to Detective McQ to investigate who had done it and why. And that's perfectly fine, because not only is the story simple enough, but the movie is going to keep you hooked to the screen. At no point, will you ever feel like the story is boring and will make you want to fall asleep. The story is going to keep you interested to see where McQ will go next to find Detective Boyle's killer, whom was the detective that gets killed at the beginning of the movie. Now because this movie was trying to cash in on "Dirty Harry"'s success, we see quite a few similarities with both main characters, such as both of them going out of their way of doing their own investigations, getting their badge's suspended until further notice, though in the case of McQ, he just straight up turns in his gun, because the police force of Seattle is too political. But you see what I'm getting at here. And as I said, there is a chance that someone who has seen the "Dirty Harry" movies, will go into this movie, and might notice the similarities, and could see this movie ripping of those movies.

Now, setting aside the similarities, if you go into this movie, and you have never seen the "Dirty Harry" movies, then you're not going to notice any of the differences. And even if you have seen those movies, most people are not going to notice them, or even care. Because, as I said, the movie is still strong enough to show that you can have a strong script, and any worry of this thing being similar to "Dirty Harry" is not really a big deal in the long run.

Now, I promise not to make any more references to "Dirty Harry" from this point forward. So, we have writing here that is really good. The acting here is also really strong, save for one actress, who I will get to in a moment. I was really curious to see how John Wayne would do in this kind of environment. And he plays it rather well, especially considering that this movie was released pretty late into John Wayne's acting career. I wasn't sure if he was able to pull it off, but thankfully, he proved me wrong here, so I can give him a ton of praise here. It's not his best performance, if we're talking about movies where it isn't a Western or a war movie, but it's still good enough to show that he still had it. One other actress, who I was surprised to see her when I was watching this movie, goes by the name of Colleen Dewhurst. I had to check to make sure she was the same actress that was in "The Cowboys", and I was right. And I was surprised, because one thing I need to mention about myself is that, whenever I watch a movie, specifically a much older movie, I will recognize actors, be it in minor or major roles, who had been in other John Wayne movies, be it a Western or any other kind of movie, and I usually go "Holy shit, I recognize that actor from that certain movie". And it's kind of a nerdy thing with me, so if I happen to do it again in future Reaction & Reviews, then you'll certainly know it. But Colleen Dewhurst also turned in a great showing, as did everyone else, save for one, who I'll now talk about. And it's the actress who played Ginger, who is John Wayne's daughter in this movie. She was the only actress who phoned in her performance, because for the 2 or 3 lines she had in this movie, it sounds like she's speaking them all really quickly into one sentence. And it comes across as if she's running out of breath, trying to get her lines out. I think another take or two would've really helped deliver her lines better. But, as I said, she only has 2 or 3 lines in the one scene she's in for about a minute, and then disappears from the movie altogether. So, aside from her, the acting is great.

There really isn't much I can talk about in terms of special effects. I can really only mention stuff such as squibs and blood, and that stuff looked fine, in terms of effects from 1974. We also have quite a few car chases that are pretty good. They're nothing special, but they do help keep the movie going.

Camerawork here is pretty good. The lighting is well lit. The score is decent, save for one scene, and this is going to tie into sound-mix. There's this one scene where we see McQ talking with Rosie, who is literally a pimp. And as they're talking, we get to hear this really lame, kinda shit, jazz music. And I never thought I'd say that, because jazz music is usually really solid. But to hear it in this scene is just terrible. Not only that, but I may have heard a bit of disco music, too. Now, I could be totally wrong on that, because I haven't heard a lot of disco music, thank god, but if it was used here, then it kind answers why the music in this scene sucked. And what also hurts this scene more is the sound-mix, because the music is so loud, you can barely hear what McQ and Rosie are saying. Some of it you could possibly make out, but a lot of it is drowned out by the music being so loud. So much so, that it makes this scene almost unwatchable. Now, beyond that one scene, the sound-mix is still really good throughout the entire movie.

Ultimately, guys, am I able to recommend "McQ"? Yes. Because as I said, whether this movie has a ton of similarities to "Dirty Harry" or not, the movie is still really solid on it's own standards. I can recommend it if you are a fan of John Wayne, I can recommend it to anyone who likes cop movies, and I can even recommend it to fans of the "Dirty Harry" series. Because, most likely, they are not going to notice, or even care, about this movie having similarities to "Dirty Harry". Now, do I think this movie is as good as the "Dirty Harry" movies. No. I do I think a majority of them, save for "The Dead Pool", are far better movies than "McQ". I will say, however, that this movie is certainly better than another cop movie that I covered for this series, which was "Coogan's Bluff", which also starred Clint Eastwood. So I can, at least, give the movie that much. But overall, I'd say go check this movie out. It certainly is one of the better movies that I've seen from John Wayne, that isn't considered a Western, that I've really liked. Speaking of which, I mentioned "Hatari!", which is not only one of my favorite movies of all time, but it's also a non-Western movie starring John Wayne. I'm gonna go watch that, because it has been quite a while since I've last seen that movie.

Anyway, with that, guys, we come to the close of another Reaction & Review. Until next time, ladies and gentlemen, take care, and I will see you all in the near future. Peace.