Due to the use of excessive force in arresting a sexual predator, Detective Lt. Jericho "Action" Jackson (Carl Weathers) is demoted to police sergeant. What's worse, the father of the man he roughed up, Detroit industrialist Peter Dellaplane (Craig T. Nelson), declares war on Jackson, framing him for the murder of his own wife, Patrice (Sharon Stone). But Jericho manages to elude arrest and, with the help of a drug-addicted singer named Sydney (Vanity), goes after Dellaplane.