The Damage Is Done (Collateral Damage (DVD))

Member Name: utero

Product:	Collateral Damage (DVD)
Date:	12/09/03 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's only 100 minutes

Disadvantages: Boring, Very Very Stupid, Takes Itself Seriously

This year Arnie returned to box office glory with T3, the role what made him came at the right time because his career beforehand was going downhill fast. The Sixth Day was a decent movie ruined by some limp direction, Collateral Damage on the other hand is a limp movie in pretty much every department.

Arnie plays fireman Gordy Brewer, a family man with wife and child until they are killed in a terrorist attack. It's a result of conflict between the US and Columbia. Most people would have to contend with the grief and hope for a peaceful resolution. However Gordy finds a way into Columbia and is on a mission to make his family's murderers pay.

I'd like to say that there is more to the plot than this but sadly there is nothing more to tell you. This is really as dumb as it comes, most action movies suspend some element of belief but sadly the events of 9/11 have made this movie even sillier. Had it tried to play itself as escapism entertainment then I could have forgiven it. Sadly this is a movie that seems to take itself seriously. Here we have a US taskforce who can't track down and capture a terrorist yet a humble fireman can get into a country undetected and track down the culprit without much trouble. This is a fireman who has thankfully stumbled into A-Team territory where everyone with a gun is a hopeless shot. This is the kind of movie where a terrorist has no qualms about taking loads of innocent lives with a bomb but has a problem killing one man because his wife won't let him.

I'd like to say this movie was entertaining in some ways but sadly it passed me by with little thrills. Everything about it is completely lifeless and the action is pretty much non-existent. If a movie lie this is struggling then you'd at least expect a few Arnie one-liners to pep things up. But there's not a single one in the movie, c?mon filmmakers you must try harder and understand what we demand of an Arnie movie.
r>The acting is very ordinary; Arnie goes through the motions and just looks a bit too old for this shit. Things become slightly entertaining with the appearances of John Turturro and John Leguizamo but they're merely cameo appearances and parts that could be played any actor. Perhaps there was a decent paycheque involved because I can certainly think of no reason why Turturro at least would take the part. Cliff Curtis takes on the villain role but I've seen him in similar roles over and over so this was again tired. The movie also throws in a twist which you can see coming a mile away.

Director Andrew Davis made The Fugitive, but since then he?s done nothing of note and his direction here is strictly by the numbers. I'm very surprised this movie got made and that it cost $85 million to make. I can't see where the money was spent, most of it certainly isn't on the screen. At least the likes of T3 cost a packet but it was all up on screen.

I would go as far as saying this is the worst Arnie action movie and some may say there are a few contenders. But this has nothing going for it. It's a case of watching once and then saying Asta La Vista Baby !