...a commonplace Dumb Arnold Movie he could have made in his sleep.
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In the broadest sense, this may have been the most timely movie in the history of cinema. Schwarzenegger's "Collateral Damage" was made for release about the time of the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and depicts the adventures of a heroic fireman combating terrorists. Talk about coincidence. It's no wonder Warner Brothers decided to hold up its première for a few months until the country was more ready to embrace its content (besides their being wary of people thinking them exploitive). As a revenge picture, however, it may have been a tonic the American public needed.
But it wasn't made for any particular political purpose; it's basically just a stock action flick, typical of Big Arnold. The movie doesn't come near the man's A-class pictures ("Terminator I and II," "True Lies," "Predator," "Total Recall"), but it's solid second-tier Arnold and a far sight better than his last two outings, which may not be saying much.
In "Collateral Damage," despite the movie's chance resemblance to real-life events and the heroics of real-life firefighters, there is little pretense of reality. That's what I like most about any Big Arnold film; the action and adventure are so exaggerated you know it's meant only to entertain; yet "Collateral Damage" is not done tongue-in-cheek (as good as "True Lies" was in this regard). "Collateral Damage" stresses the inflated hokum of serious action films that, nonetheless, never take themselves too seriously. So you've got a film that looks like real life, never smiles or winks, but plays every scene for maximum, overblown exhilaration. The beauty of the film is that it usually gets away with it, and when it doesn't, who cares?
The filmmaker in charge is a fellow who's succeeded at this sort of thing before, director Andrew Davis. His "Under Siege" (1992, Steven Seagal) and "The Fugitive" (1993, Harrison Ford) were among the best action pictures of the nineties, so Schwarzenegger is in good care and good company, even if the present movie is far more clichéd than those former efforts. Davis directs with a sure hand, my only complaint being the amount of back story needed to get the plot and hero into high gear. Davis and screenwriters David and Peter Griffiths have to first establish the courageous fireman's credentials as a superhero in his own right and then develop the hero's grief, indignation, frustration, and anger over a personal tragedy before sending him off on his mission. This makes almost the first half of the film somewhat of a drudge, but it makes the second half almost worth the wait.
Schwarzenegger's character, L.A. Fire Captain Gordy Brewer, is seen in the opening shots rescuing people from a burning building, corny as that may seem, thereby not only providing the movie with a rousing introduction but persuading us that he is a man who would not be afraid to tackle any hazardous situation if the right motivation were involved. Next, we're shown his idyllic family life with a beautiful, loving wife and young son. What would happen if this harmony were shattered? Later that day Gordy witnesses them innocently blown away in a terrorist attack on a delegation of Colombian and U.S. dignitaries. When he hears a fellow on television refer to their deaths as "regrettable...collateral damage," and he recognizes that the government is not about to do anything about it because of delicate peace talks being negotiated in Washington between the Colombian government and Colombian rebels, Gordy goes over the edge and vows to track down the chief terrorist himself.
The guerrilla leader responsible is Claudio, nicknamed "the Wolf," who has returned to Colombia. He's the head of a group of so-called freedom fighters known as the Army of Colombian Liberation, whose headquarters are deep in the Colombian rain forests. Naturally, that's exactly where Gordy heads. Big Arnold on a mission of revenge into the deepest, darkest jungles on Earth; what could be better? (Yeah, yeah, I know.) The situation is meant to remind us of the actor's past glories in "Commando" and "Predator," and it's good to have him back in form. Admittedly, he is beginning to look his age and probably can't sustain this kind of role forever, but for as long as he can get away with it, I say go for it. I mean, there are still few other movie heroes an audience would rather see than Arnold coming to the rescue these days.
The story is filled with the usual huffing and puffing and running around and diving off impossibly high cliffs into impossibly raging rivers. Remember, it's an action-adventure film of the far-fetched variety. What would you expect? Gordy outraces fireballs. But it's got a modicum of tender moments, introspection, and surprises, too, even if they're not what we've come for. By the time Gordy reaches Colombia, practically the whole planet knows he's there. The Colombian police want to capture him and throw him in jail; the Colombian guerrillas want to find him and hold him for ransom; and the CIA wants to make him a martyr and further their argument for closing down the rebels. Seems a guy just can't do battle for good these days without everybody getting on his case.
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