Dommage collatéral

"Collateral Damage" is an Action - Thriller movie in which we watch a man trying to find the terrorists who are responsible for the death of his family after the occurrence of a terrorist attack. He has to search and try very hard in order to succeed on his goal.

Although it's a typical action movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger I have to admit that I liked it. It has a simple but interesting plot with some plot twists that made it even better. It does not have something new to add but it's a nice action movie overall. The interpretations of both Arnold Schwarzenegger who played as Gordy Brewer and Francesca Neri who played as Selena Perrini were very good. The direction which was made by Andrew Davis consisted of much action and plenty of suspense so, the goal of the movie was achieved. To sum up, I have to say that "Collateral Damage" is an interesting action movie and I recommend it only to action movie fans.

This action, is about a fireman (Schwartzenegger) who loses his family to a terrorist's bomb in LA, and then goes after the terrorist when the authorities do nothing, is OK! The pace is fast and the effects plentiful!

There are a few logical problems, like why is it the fireman, among thousands of security personnel in DC, that is the only one going after the killer, when the latter is trying to turn DC into an inferno?!

Lots of good actors, nice cinematography and special effects, in short better than average, but the misses are sometimes bad, like not getting Colombia's map correct! That he can travel on someone else's pass is also amazing.

But it is fairly logical, in its own context, so you don't mind the misses the first time you see it!

Not too bad for a hero, over 50 :-)!

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

It's easy to see why this was postponed because of September 11 (even the terrorist group in the film ALC only needs IADA put on the end of it).What's hard to understand is how Collateral Damage got released at all.It's hard to believe this film is directed by Andrew Davis,the director of such action greats as The Fugitive,Under Siege and Nico.Ageing action man Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Gordy Brewer ,the most ridiculously named action character ever,who goes to Columbia to seek revenge on El Lobo,the terrorist mastermind who killed his wife and child with a bomb blast on the Anti-Terrorism Agency in New York.The story is poor (how can a fireman have so much knowledge on how to locate and take out master terrorists?)as is the character development,and in fact,so is the action.Truly run-of-the-mill stuff and nothing that hasn't been done to better and much more impacting effect in previous films of this type.For this,54 year old Arnie still has impressive biceps,and things do heat up a bit at the end.But overall,on the basis of this and his previous films,one thinks the Arn ought to think about retiring from film and trying harder to become mayor of California.**

OK, here is the premise. A fireman's (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wife and son get blown up when a terrorist (Cliff Curtis) is trying to destroy some target. He googles "terrorist" on his home computer, finds out who is responsible, and goes off into the jungle to capture him. He escapes. In the meantime, he hooks up with the terrorist's wife (Francesca Neri), wins her to his side, and they go off back to the States to catch him. If that is not the most unbelievable plot you can imagine, then there are some twists and turns that are even more incredible.

But, who cares? This is the Governator kicking some major butt like he did in True Lies, Commando, and many other movies that you and I watch over and over.

Italian actress Neri (Live Flesh) is hot, Curtis (Whale Rider) makes a perfect terrorist, and one of my favorites, John Leguizamo (Land of the Dead), plays a great part. Even Monk's agoraphobic brother, John Turturro, is here. Wow! But, it's all about the damage, collateral and otherwise, that draws you to the movie. The fireman turned terminator turns up the heat (red, of course) and proceeds to erase the terrorist.

I remember a time, in the not too distant past, when any new movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was treated as an event. Nowadays, his films slip in and out of town with nary a person even noticing. What's happened? The sad but obvious explanation is that, as he's aged, Arnold has had to make way for younger, more dynamic action stars, leaving him stuck with leftover crumbs like `Collateral Damage,' a dull, lackluster action film that manages to kick itself into high gear only in its final half hour or so.

`Collateral Damage' was, of course, one of those films whose original release date had to be postponed in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. In this case, the sensitivity arose as a result of the film's storyline, which revolves around a group of Colombian terrorists determined to strike at targets on American soil. Schwarzenegger plays fireman Gordy Brewer, whose wife and child are killed in an explosion at the Colombian consulate in Los Angeles. Brewer, feeling that the U.S. government has little concern with exacting revenge from the terrorist leader responsible for the explosion, decides to mount a one-man crusade to see that justice is ultimately done. The film, obviously indifferent to its own need for plausibility, sends this virtually unarmed fireman into the unfamiliar jungles of South America to take on what appears to be the entire Colombian police force as well as the guerilla fighters whose actions resulted in the deaths of Brewer's family. Brewer, of course, despite his own inexperience and the formidable odds against him, manages to talk and/or fight his way out of every dire predicament before rescuing his nemesis' wife and their adopted son.

There isn't much to say about `Collateral Damage' except to report that the film does achieve a certain tension in the closing stretches, when Brewer returns to Washington D.C. to help foil a plot to detonate a bomb in that city. Thanks to a few nice plot twists, the film ends up not being a total loss when all is finally said and done.

It's never much fun to have to witness an actor in the sunset of his career. But if Schwarzenegger's films don't start improving soon, he may well have to switch to that career in politics he has reportedly been looking into between films.