Reel Critics

‘Bourne Identity’: Thinking man’s action flick

Matt Damon makes his bid for the action hero throne in “The Bourne

Identity.” But even though the movie has its fair share of action scenes

and a great car chase through the streets of Paris, it lacks several key

elements to be considered an action movie.

There is no catch phrase, like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “I’ll be back,”

or any other unintelligible dialogue that Sylvester Stallone might throw

in. Without something catchy to annoy our friends on a daily basis, we

might actually be forced to discuss the plot and speak in sentences.

As action movies rarely have plots, and even fewer still have

characters that speak in sentences, it’s a darn good thing this movie is

the exception.

The movie starts with an unconscious Damon being pulled out of the

ocean by a fishing boat. We quickly find out that he’s got two bullets

and some kind of embedded chip in his back. It seems that memorizing your

bank account number is a little more difficult and painful than having it

surgically implanted in your body.

This information, while the one weak plot point, is quite important

when he awakens with amnesia. Following the bank account number to

Switzerland, the man without an identity discovers a safety deposit box

filled with cash, passports and a gun.

After beating up a few policeman and taking on the American embassy,

he finds himself paying Marie (Franka Potente) $20,000 to drive him to

Paris to look up the address found on his American passport under the

name of Jason Bourne.

Reluctant at first but needing the money, she decides to take him up

on his offer.

Making the journey, the two become the unknowing targets of a secret

government agency that is hunting them down.

The movie has the feel of an older classic espionage movie, and its

European location gives it a unique flavor.

The fight scenes are well choreographed and done without the grandiose

ordeal and flashy fighting styles of today’s films, making it a little

grittier and different than the norm.

While never predictable, the ending stays true to the rest of the

film, keeping the suspense and refusing to fall prey to the cliche. Not

truly an action flick, “The Bourne Identity” is certainly a classic.

“The Bourne Identity” is rated PG-13 for violence and some language.

* TODD KARELLA is an intern for the Daily Pilot.

‘Windtalkers’: Deja Woo all over again

I was anxious to see “Windtalkers” to learn more about the Navajo

soldiers who took part in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the

Pacific from 1942 to 1945. This specialized group of about 400 “code

talkers” transmitted messages by telephone and radio under combat

conditions in their native tongue, a very complex, unwritten language. It

was a code the Japanese were never able to break. The skill and courage

of these men saved countless American lives during critical military

engagements.

This is a fascinating part of history that deserved more attention

from director John Woo (“Face/Off,” “Mission Impossible 2”) and writers

John Rice and Joe Batteer. Unfortunately, “Windtalkers” places too much

focus on bullets, body counts and star Nicolas Cage.

Cage is Joe Enders, lone survivor of a brutal siege in the Solomon

Islands who is reassigned to be the bodyguard to code talker Ben Yahzee

(Adam Beach). Yahzee came from training at Camp Pendleton with his

friend, Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie, the only Navajo with a key role

in the film).

Enders cautions the good-natured fellow sergeant Ox Henderson

(Christian Slater), who has been assigned to watch over Whitehorse, not

to get too friendly with their charges. The bodyguards have been given

implicit instructions to protect the code at all costs, which means the

code talkers must not be captured alive.

The cliched dialogue and male bonding going on here should be familiar

to anyone who’s ever seen a war picture. Henderson shares musical moments

on the harmonica with Whitehorse on flute. A brooding Enders does his

best not to bond with the likable Yahzee but, gosh darn it, he just can’t

help himself.

One of the biggest disappointments of “Windtalkers” is how little

screen time is given to show how the Navajo codes were learned and then

used in battle. Not much is revealed about how these men played such a

key part in the Pacific theater, their character, their issues. Instead

we get a couple of scenes of spiritual rituals at sunset. I thought the

point of the film was to break stereotypes not perpetuate them.

While “Saving Private Ryan” was commended for its realistic portrayal

of the battlefield, it seems as though every war film since has taken the

“more is better” approach. John Woo, famous for his stylishly

choreographed violence and imagery of fluttering birds, takes this idea

to bloody excess at the expense of everything else.

“Windtalkers” is rated R for pervasive graphic war violence and for

language.

* SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for

a financial services company.

Books give better history than “Windtalkers’

“Windtalkers” will probably disappoint many in the audience who were

expecting details of a great part of American history. During World War

II, Navajos were recruited by the Marines and trained to use a secret

military code based on their language to obstruct Japan’s attempts to

decrypt our military transmissions.

Instead of the history lesson, director John Woo orchestrateswith

writers John Rice and Joe Batter the “we’ve seen it all” theme to its

heights. The frenzied battle scenes, lackluster development of

characters, unfortunate cliches, brainless bigots, budding friendships

and familiar love snippets drive the audience mad. Woo falls short in

bringing it all together.

Nicholas Cage has his best performance since “Leaving Las Vegas” as a

tormented Marine, Joe Enders, who is extremely ill-tempered due to a

fire fight that killed all his men. Enders is assigned to one of the

Navajo code talkers, played by Adam Beach, with orders to protect the

code at all costs.

“Windtalkers” was an exhausting one and a half hours of carnage and

firepower. The contribution of the Navajos to the war effort was not

honorably depicted. They deserved better. To this day, that code has not

been cracked.

We do have to give credit where credit is due. Woo does possess an

exhilarating way of portraying the savageness of war with a master

combination of music and cinematography during battle scene engagements.

War is not a pretty sight -- you recognize it as you leave the theater.

All was not lost in “Windtalkers.” What this movie did was entice us

to research the Navajos to gain additional knowledge of their

contributions to America, as well as to World War II.

Even if it is “overkill,” we say at least rent it for its historic

merit.

* GAY WASSALL-KELLY is the editor of a Balboa newspaper and is active

in the community. BILL KELLY is an industrial engineer.