Reel Critics

Allen MacDonald

John Woo’s American films have been at times mediocre (“Face Off”),

better than average (“Mission Impossible 2”) and often just plain bad

(“Broken Arrow”). “Windtalkers” falls dubiously in the latter category.

If you’ve happened to catch any of his Hong Kong films such as “The

Killer,” you’ll know Woo is a major talent, but his work here has a

bland, watered down quality, as if he’s working too hard to please the

studios -- always a bad sign.

Nicholas Cage plays a battle scarred sergeant recently injured in a

vicious battle on Japanese soil during World War II. Although an ear

injury could send him safely home, our hero -- like all heroes -- wants

to return to the effort if for no other reason than it’s the only thing

he does well.

Cage is reassigned to protect a Navajo code-talker (Adam Beach), who

uses his obscure native language as a secret code. The catch? If Beach

should be in danger of falling into enemy hands, Cage has been instructed

to kill Beach rather than compromise the integrity of the code.

“Windtalkers” is an uninspired, vapid work that takes a promising

premise and distills the substance right out. This movie is the how-to of

formulaic storytelling. There are many reasons I disliked this film, but

I will offer you only 10:

1. Since Beach is a Native American, you can be sure that he’ll have

to deal with some racism within the American ranks, his biggest tormentor

being Noah “Hey, Chief” Emmerich who, despite this character flaw, isn’t

necessarily a bad guy because he is one helluva soldier. “Pinocchio” has

a more complex moral message than this film.

2. I find it fascinating how Nicholas Cage can be standing in the

middle of gun fire and not get a scratch as his fellows soldiers fall to

their grisly deaths all around him. It’s as if the character knows he’s

the star and that no harm will come to him save the requisite injury he

sustains in his first scene.

3. While we’re discussing Cage’s injury, it might be important to note

that while other men are blown to pieces by grenades, Cage’s only injury

from the same is a blown eardrum. You see, this throws of his equilibrium

and can than be used as a metaphor for his shaky conscience, which may or

may not feel bad about the possibility of killing Beach. When Cage has a

crisis of conscience, his ear hurts. How deep.

4. It was depressing to see the excellent Mark Ruffalo squandered in

such a small, meaningless role. I caught “You Can Count on Me” on HBO the

other night and he is a true example of talent.

5. The characters couldn’t be less flat. Beach gets predictable lines

such as “This is my war too.” It’s a nice sentiment, but is he caught up

on his Native American history?

6. Cage and Beach have what could be termed a “meet/cute” -- a method

of introducing characters that endears us to them. It’s usually reserved

for romance, but here we get a nervous Beach spilling both his coffee and

Cage’s on Cage. Darn cute, huh?

7. In case we weren’t sure that Cage was a conflicted hero, we see him

running in slow-motion on the beach as he flashes back to his horrific

memories while passing other soldiers. This is so we know he’s not just

the best... he’s a killing machine.

8. Cage’s worst line: “With all due respect, I didn’t sign up for a

baby-sitting mission.” Hope we don’t see that clip at the Oscars.

9. Christian Slater has the same dialogue delivery of every other film

he’s ever been in. He’s also fond of squinting at moments when he’s

upset.

10. How many times can Nicholas Cage lose his temper, jump up in a

totally unprotected space, fire his machine gun, kill a dozen Japanese

soldiers while growling with unhinged rage?

If you want to see the character driven action movie done right, go

see “The Bourne Identity.” That film excels at it. “Windtalkers” isn’t

worthy to sit on an abandoned video store shelf.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 29, is currently working toward his master’s degree

in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.