Windtalkers (2002)

2.5 out of 4

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Christian Slater, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Roger Willie, Frances O'Connor

Director: John Woo

Time: 133 mins

John Woo is known as the purveyor of poetic action, where gunmen leap while shooting with a gun in each hand, and doves fly before a Mexican standoff. His last film, Mission: Impossible-2, was a huge success, though part of it was probably due to Tom Cruise in the lead role. In Windtalkers, which has been delayed a couple of times over the last year, he reteams with his Face/Off star, Nicolas Cage, for a look at a little-known aspect of World War II. While filled with some brutal, if toned-down (Woo-wise, that is) action sequences, some cliches and the deluge of war films over the past eight months means its impact is lessened somewhat.

When the US were fighting the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean, one of the main strategic islands was Saipan. In order to mount a successful raid, the Marines have developed a code based on the Navajo language, one which requires idealistic young men like Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) to transmit. Nicolas Cage is Joe Enders, a war veteran with a damaged ear and guilt over his last mission. He is assigned to protect Yahzee, or more appropriately, the Code, which means he must kill Yahzee if there's a chance the Japanese can get to him.

Windtalkers presents an interesting dilemma. Would an American soldier be able to kill a fellow soldier in the heat of battle, if it means saving the lives of countless others? The script could have created an extremely tense situation where this aspect is examined, much like the dilemma facing the soldiers in Saving Private Ryan when they capture a German soldier and decide whether to let him go or to kill him. Instead, when one sees another Navajo, Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie), joining Yahzee as the only two "windtalkers" assigned to the Saipan assault, it's easy to see where his fate lies. Other cliches like the racist soldier who realises his Navajo colleagues aren't all that bad also crop up, as well as moments when a handful of Americans are able to fend off wave after wave of rushing Japanese soldiers. The Japanese also don't seem to be able to aim their guns and shoot, preferring to use the knives attached to the nozzle instead.

Cliches aside, the action scenes are fairly brutal, although they fall short of the gore shown in Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg's film seems to have created a new era of bloody war picture that requires graphic realism). Woo can't get away from some of his trademarks, such as the slow motion action shot, especially during grenade explosions. While perfect for a film like Face/Off, using these techniques in Windtalkers screams, "Woo!" I wonder if he was itching to throw Nic Cage a second gun and have him leaping through the air while shooting. It doesn't come to that, but Cage does have an awkward way of firing a gun, as if he was in Stallone mode rather than as a frightened soldier.

Cage seems lost here. He seems to do his best work when his character is showy, but in Windtalkers he is so passive he seems to be going through the motions. The Navajo, especially Beach's character, are presented as shining warriors, and Beach does his best impression of a perfect, no-reason-to-dislike-him soldier. Christian Slater fares well as another Code protector, and his rapport with Roger Willie is nicely developed. It's rather odd to see him in the opening cast list as the "And" star, as in "And Christian Slater." That position is usually reserved for those whose careers aren't going anywhere. The rest of the cast, including Noah Emmerich (The Truman Show) as the racist soldier, and Peter Stormare as the leader of the group, aren't developed very much, while the lone female role of any substance, Frances O'Connor as Cage's nurse, is so small and so unnecessary that it invites bewilderment.

Windtalkers could have been a very good war film. Focusing on a little known part of World War II that deserves to be told, it unfortunately fails to connect emotionally, due to a combination of cliches and unsure direction by Woo. The action is explosive, but so was Star Wars: Episode II: Attack Of The Clones. If it had arrived before the other war pictures that have hit cinemas over the last year (Behind Enemy Lines, Hart's War, Black Hawk Down and We Were Soldiers), it might have seemed fresh. But halfway through 2002, it seems tired.

(c) Joe Wong (19 June 2002)