I have talked before about the suspension of disbelief and how necessary it is to successful storytelling. Basically, the suspension of disbelief is our willingness to acccept the implausible or even the outright impossible for the sake of the story. The general rule is that the more fantastical the story, the more willing an audience is to accept it. The Star Wars films make for a good example. We are willing to embrace this world almost from the open credits.

When it comes to destroying the suspension of disbelief, action movies have become one of the biggest offenders in recent years. Competition is fierce to make each movie more of a spectacle than the last. Computer generated action sequences have removed much of the visceral feeling of many films, further eroding the illusion. The result is a film like Bad Boys II, which is all noise and not a shred of substance. We've gone from watching movies to watching a director play a video game.

Imagine my surprise when I sat down to watch S.W.A.T. and it actually turned out to be a real film, driven by real characters rather than out of control car chases. Unlike many recent films, the characters and the story didn't seem like so much filler between the action. Rather, the action felt like honest consequences of believable motivations. Certainly, some of the things shown to us, such as a plane landing on a bridge, can't really happen, but the film manages to successfully let us believe that they might.

There are villains in the film and they are appropriately villainous, but they never seem to exist for the single-minded purpose of giving the good guys someone to fight. When a couple of key characters turn on the rest, it comes as a surprise, but not an implausible one. The clues are there and their motivations make sense.

S.W.A.T. gets other details right as well. For instance, the main characters, Jim Street (Colin Farrell) seem to share a moment of attraction for team member Chris Sanchez (Michelle Rodriguez). They go out for drinks, there might be a hint of sparks and she even invites him to her home. But then nothing really happens, or rather, something significant does. The two seem to realize something that very few movie characters ever clue in to -- they realize that maybe it's a bit too fast and too awkward. This thought isn't verbalized, but Farrell and Rodriguez are good enough actors that it isn't necessary. What we are left with is that these two characters may eventually hook up, but maybe they won't, and either way it's all good.

The film opens with a shootout and a hostage situation that is intentionally reminiscent of the infamous North Hollywood bank robbery. As in real life, it quickly becomes clear that the police are outmatched and they call in S.W.A.T. Jim Street and his partner are assigned a lookout position, but the partner decides to enter the bank. The two find themselves face-to-face with the gunmen and the resulting confrontation ends with a hostage being shot.

This leads to what may be one of the most realistic "getting chewed out by the chief" scenes in recent film history. Street and his partner are admonished for breaking the rules. In fact, they appear to have a history of such problems. The chief doesn't play around and tells them that the only way they're staying on the force is to accept a demotion out of S.W.A.T. Street accepts, hoping to get back in, but his partner quits. As a side note, there is another rarity here when the chief mentions that the shot hostage has filed a lawsuit against the force. Most action films blissfully ignore that we live in a world of litigation.

Six months pass and Street is still stuck behind a desk, that is until he is spotted by veteran S.W.A.T. member Dan 'Hondo' Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson). Hondo has been ordered to put together a team and he wants Street to join up. Just in time, too. When an international fugitive is captured and offered $100 million to anyone who can break him out of jail, the entire city of Los Angeles becomes a war zone as every gang member and thug battle it out with the police.

S.W.A.T. does generate a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief, but I don't want to give the impression that the film isn't exciting. There are plenty of thrills to be had and like any good action film, many elements are down-right impossible. The trick is that as impossible as they are, the film makes them feel plausible.

The true test of a film like this is how you feel about it when the credits begin to roll. I liked this film and I liked the characters. The ending leaves the very disctinct possibility for more adventures with this S.W.A.T. team and you know what? I actually am sort of looking forward to the sequel.