BROKEN ARROW
A film review by Clark Goble
Copyright 1996 Clark Goble
I should have known better. I keep hearing about how great John Woo is. So I went and saw this wretched Van Damme movie directed by him. It had one or two interesting scenes, but far, far too much slow-mo, little plot, terrible dialog, and you never really cared about the characters. And beyond that you always never were involved in the movie at all. Through the whole thing you felt like - so what?
But everyone talks about Woo. So I went and rented his "classics" from his Hong Kong days. There was some interesting stunts, such as sliding down a bannister while shooting a gun, but nothing really outstanding. And the stunts were so frequently over the top to such a degree that they made James Bond seem like hard biting realism! I mean this one guy single handedly wipes out a mafia group by RAPELLING down from the ceiling with a shotgun and a machine gun. Give me a break. Some of the stunts were redeeming enough that I didn't fall asleep in the movies though.
Then, knowing far better, I went to see Broken Arrow, Woo's latest American attempt at making a decent film. I can sum up this movie in one word. Boring. Two words if said with emphasis: BOOOOOR-ING. The dialog is so cheesy, so cliched that I can't believe someone actually penned it. About the only amazing thing is that Travolta actually takes his dialog and makes it work. Of course Travolta is basically reprising the same role he's been doing since Pulp Fiction, but it at least was one redeeming feature to the film. Actually the special effects of the stealth fighter were pretty good also. And the scenery of the desert was great, but then I go camping there all the time.
Which brings me to my next point. No it isn't the poor cinematography, cheesy sets, or unbelievable jumping and rolling over rocks. It is the park ranger. Now personally I'd be in heaven if a park ranger like that ever looked me up. But the acting job by the actress portraying the cliched love interest is simply a bit much. Or little rather. Who cast this woman? And how can she roll through the dirt, jump around cars, and never have a hair out of place nor get her uniform dirty? And her first act upon meeting Slater is a little strange. I won't give it away as a spoiler, lest someone actually see this turkey and be offended. (Although they ought to be offended by the film and not the spoiler)
All in all you can probably get much more excitment if you just drive down south to Moab, the San Raphael Swell or even Zion's and look around. You'll undoubtedly see about as much action and be far more interested in what you see than if you go into the theatre to see this piece of crap.
People always complain about how Tarantino, Rodriguez and others borrow from Woo. Well at least they usually do something interesting with the style. Well actually Rodriguez has still to make a movie with an involved plot or characters, but Tarantino has Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and the scripts for True Romance and Natural Born Killers. Although the latter shows that even a good script can be made into a horrid movie.
But enough - just avoid this movie like the plague. You'll be much happier.
/// Clark Goble /// cgoble@fiber.net ///
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