Film Reviews

Windtalkers

• Rating:
• Director: John Woo
• Starring: Adam Beach
• Details: US / 134 minutes / (18).

Five years after he redefined the action movie genre with the redoubtable Face/Off, John Woo attempts to do the same with the Second World War movie. Unfortunately, his consistent concession to cliche and glib patriotism here makes Windtalkers a wasted exercise. Set towards the culmination of the conflict, Cage plays damaged goods Marine Joe Enders. After losing his platoon in a fire fight, he's assigned the task of acting as bodyguard to another Marine. His charge is a Navajo Indian, whose unwritten language provides the basis for the only unbroken American code. A valuable asset, if either of the Navajo Indians appears like they're about to be captured, Enders and his fellow Marine, Ox (Slater) must be prepared to take all measures to protect the cipher. Needless to say, Enders' Navajo, Ben Yahzee (Beach), is a decent skin, who only wants to make a difference.
Although they were set in different conflicts, Windtalkers has much in common with Mel Gibson's recent offering, We Were Soldiers. Both films are brimming with the sort of dewy eyed sense of patriotism and glib shallow sentiments only ever expressed in war movies. Woo obviously feels there's some real substance here - he cuts back significantly on his trademark scenes of stylised violence - but the script, quite simply, has little depth or sense of real purpose.

Review by Garreth Murphy