It's awesome. Popeye's an asshole, but he's an asshole who's addicted to his job. And his job is catching the bad guys, so when he catches wind of a big-timer, we wanna see Hackman (who does a killer job) and the Frog clash. Friendkin uses a muscular, documentary-like style that brings the tension to the forefront and keeps things moving. The movie feels like a precursor to Greengrass' Bourne films in a lot of ways. So, you combine talented people being talented with a quick pace and mounting tension, and you get, maybe, the best cat-and-mouse movie ever.