Weird Wednesday: I Come in Peace

This screening was part of the Alamo Drafthouse’s Weird Wednesday series. For upcoming shows, click here.

On an intergalactic hustle to acquire his most valued narcotic, a drug dealing spaceman lands in Houston to pump civilians full of drugs before harvesting their drug-fueled endorphins, but don’t worry, a muscle-bound Dolph Lundgren is here to flex until peace is truly restored to the greater metropolitan area. Opening as a buddy cop action flick and initially not promising much past a story of Houston detectives attempting to take down a drug ring hilariously known as the “White Boys,” the film takes a quick turn as we’re lucky to be treated to a bit of unhinged sci-fi camp in I Come in Peace, or Dark Angel as it was originally released. Luckier still, the film decides to lean deeply into the buddy cop dynamic the weirder and more convoluted the plot gets, allowing us to bask in some glorious Dolph moments that shine even outside of the action.

Having cut his teeth as a stunt coordinator and 2nd unit director on The Dukes of Hazzard, The A-Team, and Predator, director Craig R. Baxley unleashes a maelstrom of explosions and chaos through the city of Houston for Dolph and his tiny partner to dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge their way through. I cannot understate the amount of fireballs this man let loose on his production, if Count Orlok’s castle was lit by candlelight in the recent Nosferatu then Houston was illuminated by gasoline explosions in I Come in Peace. Co-written by David Koepp of Mission Impossible, Jurassic Park, and Spider-Man fame (also the writer of the two most recent Soderbergh releases), it’s fun to see his sense of camp really shine in a b-movie production, since Koepp’s sci-fi assignments wouldn’t be as loose as this one until 2005’s Zathura.

Interrupting a drug deal, a CD-like weapon dialed to the exact electromagnetism of humans launches from the wrist of the towering alien drug dealer and cuts through the White Boys like paper. Dolph, as Detective Jack Caine, is quick to prove his unwillingness to follow the rules and accidentally lets his partner die undercover. Unfortunately for him, his new partner is FBI Agent Larry Smith, played by Brian Benben (amazingly described on iMDB as “charming [and] compactly built”), who just barely reaches Jack’s broad shoulders yet somehow manages to look down upon him with fueled disdain and disapproval. The two get started on what they think is a drug deal gone south, with the sci-fi folds quickly revealing themselves as Jack postures to be the believer while Larry plays the skeptic who sticks to the book.

The buddy cop dynamic is the strongest thread that continues throughout I Come in Peace, with tertiary characters and relationships quickly falling by the wayside as explosions and aliens distract from the half-baked subplots of love interests and office dynamics. Agent Larry’s view of Jack is quick to change when he’s given the right context, whether that’s seeing Jack put some wild piece of alien evidence together or realizing that Jack doesn’t still live in a frat house, we see Larry become humbled by their relationship, but no less cocky, because damn does he have the smarts to back his yapping. 

Instead of putting Jack through much character growth, Larry surprisingly gets the spotlight. Most interestingly is how Larry’s not really wrong in his beliefs, it’s the system in which he puts those beliefs (the FBI) that fails him; Larry is shown time and again as a good, competent agent with the brains and brawn to survive the job, but his love of the service blinds him to any harsh truths the job might be hiding from him. With a bit of help from his new hulking friend, the evolution that Larry goes on allows him to step away from the government goon status he once proudly bought into. 

At no point does their size difference become a boring gag, with Jack taking up a good two thirds of any frame and towering above all actors on set, aside from the tall baddies. At one point Larry takes a jacket from his large cop friend; shocked that it fits him, Jack simply adds “it was mine when I was twelve.” Larry’s company allows their sci-fi sleuthing to achieve solid comedic effect, especially when the smaller agent is armed with an alien gun that yields a monstrous explosion with every shot. Maybe the explosions are the real stars here.

Oh and this is a Christmas movie for some reason, so at least you’ve got a yearly excuse to revisit this gem, maybe after Die Hard has aired for the 11th day in a row and you’re just craving bigger, better fireballs. Released in 1990, I Come in Peace feels like the culmination of 80s action schlock dialed to eleven and engineered to do nothing but simply entertain our lizard brains with mesmerizing action, cheesy comebacks, and gargantuan muscles. 

If you enjoyed this article, please consider becoming a patron of Hyperreal Film Journal for as low as $3 a month!