Rating: 7/10
Review date: May 18, 2002
A spy who has been hiding the truth from his family for years got into trouble when an Arab terrorist was planning to detonate a nuke in the United States. When his family found out and was captured by the terrorist, he has no other choice except to save his wife and daughter while preventing a nuclear catastrophe on US soil…
Contrary to what I expected, this James Cameron directed flick is not as good as his other action movies. The actions are sparse the movie mostly revolve around the Harry Tasker’s (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) family life. I feel that this issue breaks the pace of the movies very much because we’ve been presented with a cool opening then the movie suddenly became slow pace with some slight humors here and there (aside from that cool scene where Schwarzenegger is chasing the terrorist on horseback).
The ending is the part that I like the most because it is clear that Cameron went all out with the actions. Hell, Schwarzenegger even had to learn to land and take off in a Harrier.
This movie is actually and action/comedy and I have to say that Cameron did a good job with it. The actions (especially near the end) were simply spectacular and the movie also features some funny lines, most of them coming from Tom Arnold who stars as Tasker’s longtime spy partner.
Schwarzenegger, as you could have guess, is his usual self here with some funny jokes to go along with that of his partner. There’s nothing groundbreaking in his acting and neither do the rest of the casts. Art Malik was alright in his role as the terrorist leader, Salim Abu Aziz, but I think they could have find someone else who looks a bit more… serious and fearsome I guess.
Ultimately, this movie will quickly be forgotten as one of those action movie flicks out there. Please keep in mind though that the action scene with Schwarzenegger and the Harrier is just intended for entertainment purpose only, so kids don’t try it at home.
One last thing to watch out for is Jamie Lee Curtis as Schwarzenegger’s wife, Helen Tasker, who performs an erotic dance for her husband at some point in the movie. I really don’t see the point with this particular scene but I digress… And remember don’t try it at home as well; you never know who might be watching.
Memorable quote: “You’re fired!”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker-
(c) 2002 Martin Taidy