Scott Roper is a wise cracking hostage negotiator, he is however exceptionally good at his job. After bringing down a particularly nasty bank robber called Michael Korda, he sets about winning his old girlfriend back whilst breaking in a new partner, Kevin McCall. When Korda escapes from prison there is only one thing on his mind, revenge, can Roper outwit Korda once again? And if so, at what cost?

There has always seemed to me to be something of a negative bias towards post 1980s Eddie Murphy (Roper) films, it appears that no matter what, nothing that comes close to his best 80s efforts will ever be deemed worthy. Now I'm not saying that Metro is a world beater, or even close to Beverly Hills Cop and Trading Places, but it's an accomplished thriller with classy bits of Murphy humour thrown in. It also boasts splendid support from Michael Rapaport as Roper's intelligent partner McCall, both men playing off each other to good effect, while Michael Wincott with his gravel voice used to full effect, is impressively devilish as the bad guy of the piece. Let down by a weak female lead in Carmen Ejogo, and certainly the familiarity of the genre loses the film any real sense of impending dread, but for a quick fix of nonsense entertainment on a blustery cold night, it's a more than OK viewing. 6/10

This passable thriller works on slickness alone. While it offers up nothing above convention to its genre, each clichéd action scene is directed and photographed with expense and effort which make the movie an enjoyable watch. I'm also surprised to hear myself say this, but the casting of Eddie Murphy actually works here and he puts in a good, solid performance as the wisecracking negotiator who wins our hearts as the film progresses. Although typecast as a comedian, Murphy passes nicely as an action movie hero and is supported by an above-average cast, including Michael Rapaport who plays his new partner. However, acting honours must go to Michael Wincott, that gravelly-voiced villain who puts in a wonderful turn as the creepy bad guy here; however, he's pretty good in all of his movies.

The couple of hostage scenes in this film are inventive and highly taut, and there's a great gruesome gag involving a severed ear. The film's highlight comes at around halfway through which begins with a car chase through the streets of San Francisco and ends on a runaway tram. Seemingly endless cars go artistically flying through the air at every opportunity before crashing back to earth and the adrenaline is certainly pumping at these moments. Added to this, villain Wincott is nearly indestructible in this movie which makes the various chase scenes exciting and enjoyable to watch. The finale is set in a clichéd old warehouse on the docks and ends with a big explosion as you would expect, along with throwing in an imminent death for the heroine if Murphy doesn't get there fast enough. Clichéd but fun, METRO is a highly enjoyable movie which won't require the brain to be in gear but successfully entertains the viewer throughout.

Scott Roper (Eddie Murphy) is the best hostage negotiator in the San Francisco Police Department. After rescuing hostages in a bank, he's given new partner Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport) to train to take over. His recently broken up girlfriend Veronica Tate (Carmen Ejogo) is a newspaper reporter. His best friend Lieutenant Sam Baffert is investigating jewel thief Michael Korda (Michael Wincott) and is killed by him. Scott wants revenge but Captain Frank Solis is keeping him out of the investigation.

Eddie Murphy is playing a loud-mouth police detective except he's not wisecracking funny like Axel Foley. He seems to have lost some of his comedic luster of his earlier work. Also Eddie is trying to go darker in this one. Michael Rapaport is basically playing the same kind of character but they don't have the best chemistry. The problem is that the script lacks intensity or sharpness. Eddie doesn't have quite the personality for this type of police drama either. The movie does have an extended car chase through the hills of SF which has some fun carnage.