Collateral Damage (Cinema: April 2002)

Finally, it's here. The Arnie film they tried to ban. But why? Well because it involves firemen & terrorist attacks but more interestingly paints a less than flattering view of US neo-colonialism & intervention in third world countries.

The situation in Columbia is something America doesn't like to talk about. It is a storm of insanity & chaos. Not only is it America's neighbour but the main supplier of cocaine to the world markets (what about the US' drug war?) but boasts kidnapping tourists (usually Western) as it's second bigggest money spinner. The country is split between a corrupt martial goverment and a throng of bickering rebels & coke barons. The CIA have steadily funded one side or the other (depending on who holds power or what the drug war aims are this week) and the combination of greed & revolution has left Columbia more akin to a slaughterhouse in downtown Compton than the beautiful country it undoubtedly is.

So what the hell is Hollywood doing making a movie about all this? It's down to the director. Andrew Davis is most famously acknowledged as man behind The Fugitive but a glance over his back catalogue and you'll see a steady output of critical US intelligence & government fodder. Nico (aka Above the Law) was more famous for introducing the world to Steve Seagal but behind the bloated buddha's ballistic ballet the script was a heady dissection of covert US politics from CIA atrocites in Vietnam to modern-day tamperings with goverment officials. The Package with Gene Hackman & Tommy Lee Jones carried on this theme with the patriotic Hackman chasing an assassin across the US & intervening in a US/USSR conspiracy to murder a leading Russian diplomat. Both films revealed Davis' interest in delving into the murkier aspects of the intelligence community & bringing these illegalities to light.

So here he is again, with the usual suspects of dubious CIA agents, home-grown terrorism & avenging superheroes. The characters are pencilled in with thick black marker - Arnie is a fireman so knows all about explosives, Elias Koteas is wonderfully (if superficially) dark & brooding, Leguizamo is the hippyish happy-go lucky cocaine farmer (with Metallica tee & cowboy hat), Turturro is the geeky sleaze & Francesca Neri the hardened-by-experience terrorist's wife.

The script is tight enough with the odd twist and turn and Davis holds the whole thing together as you might expect from a seasoned pro. It's only commendation lies in a totally new method of novelty death (feeding a poisonous snake down someone's throat) & it's illumination of the Columbian situation but even this is reduced to Che Guevara stereotypes & rickety bus rides cross country. It seems Columbia aint come very far since Romancing the Stone.

So, was it worth the wait? C'mon, this is an Arnie film. As I seem to have said so many times before it's one for the lads on a Saturday night after the pub but a workman like effort all round.

RATING:

(c)Limer 2002