Simon Phoenix, a violent criminal cryogenically frozen in 1996, escapes during a parole hearing in 2032 in the utopia of San Angeles. Police are incapable of dealing with his violent ways and turn to his captor, who had also been cryogenically frozen after being wrongfully accused of killing 30 innocent people while apprehending Phoenix.
Demolition Man is sleek and empty as well as brutal and pointless. It feels computer engineered, untouched by human hands. A real pod movie.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
12 May 2001
fresh:
Demolition Man is a significant artifact of our time or, at least, of this week.
– Vincent Canby,
New York Times,
20 May 2003
rotten:
A noisy, soulless, self-conscious pastiche that mixes elements of sci-fi, action-adventure and romance, then pours on a layer of comedy replete with Hollywood in-jokes.
– Emanuel Levy,
Variety,
30 Apr 2008
rotten:
Nearly all the SF premises are accorded the status of Andrew Dice Clay one-liners -- which means that they, along with the characters, keep changing from one scene to the next.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
30 Apr 2008
rotten:
Ultimately the script's often sharp social satire is drowned out by the noise and confusion. It is also undercut by casting virtually all the psychopathically murderous criminals as minority-group members.