The fact that the alien is on some kind of evil intergalactic Hunter S. Thompson shit works outstandingly with the frequent cop cliches. The movie takes a lot from previous “buddy cop” action films, sometimes unabashedly, but handles them all adequately. The pulp influence is similar to Showdown in Little Tokyo except pulling it's theme and elements from science fiction films instead of Kung fu flicks. The alien's penchant to fuck up junkies and drug dealers feels like a lighter and less sweaty precursor to Predator 2 (1990)-- which would come later that year, along with the shared cops vs drug dealers vs aliens three-way thing they both got going. Both of the alien visitors in the film look just like humans but are rocking intergalactic hobo poncho layering, bad hair and some snazzy (but near tongue in cheek) weaponry, all which makes me think of Critters (1986). For all we know, all this shit could be happening in some fun-loving but fucked up universe where alien threats range from furry ball things with teeth to the brain juice cartel. The human gangs are pretty fucking silly and mostly act as if they walked right out of other, unmade films. They fall in a strange but entertaining place between goofy Dick Tracy (1990) mobsters and the cartoonish syndicate from Darkman (1990). The main group of human cronies is a bunch of weaponized yuppies known as “The White Boys” without an outward explanation. It's all good, silly bullshit. I can appreciate the fact that most of the action movie elements are well-tread ground, which allows it to be a very simple film even with its almost high concept sci-fi brain-drug plot device. The streamlined interactions and relationships held by Lundgren’s character feel as though this could possibly be a sequel to another unmade Lundgren renegade cop movie- one that just doesn't have aliens in it ( fuck now I wish that was real). It's got a few different threads to its structure, but bounces between them well enough to keep it interesting, even if it does kind of just blow one away at some point. It's got some out-there ideas, but If you’ve watched more than a few films in your lifetime, most will be pretty predictable. The shallow aspects seem intentional and play into a self aware take on a noir theme. It's not a super important example of fine cinema, but it holds its entertaining value from start to finish. Before it could lose anyone, the film jumps back from amped-up action sequences to snarky comedic moments and of course some budding manly dude-love.