Collateral Damage (R)

Fans of Arnold Schawrzenegger’s action films – including lots of male bravado and one liners – will find a complete new movie here. And while change can sometimes revitalize an action genre, it does little to help this film, “Collateral Damage,” starring Arnold and directed by Andrew Davis. What we find is a decent film, but not a great one, that starts off in the quaintness of home life and ends in the dangerous jungles of Columbia as a man attempts to avenge his family’s death at the hands of a terrorist. 

The hero of this film, Arnold plays a man named Gordie Brewer, a respected firefighter. We see what kind of man he is at the beginning: a loving father to his son, and the seeming perfect husband to his wife. Gordie is brushed incredibly thin during the film’s opening sequences; and honestly, the family man routine feels somewhat uneasy in Schwarzeneger’s hands. Nonetheless, it sets up the movie’s plot. On the way to pick up his wife and son downtown, a terrorist detonates a bomb – its intended target a group of CIA members and other national types – claiming his wife and child in the process.

“Collateral Damage” gets its name from the tongue-in-cheek way a man remarks on the death of Gordie’s wife and child. They are ‘collateral damage’ in a war Columbia has waged against the United States for meddling in its revolution. Gordie of course does not view his family’s death as collateral damage, and sets off to Columbia – sneaking in through Panama – to avenge their deaths.

Realism-wise, “Collateral Damage” is a nightmare. While in other films Arnie is one action hero or another (a hardened commando, a witness protection operative), here he plays a mild-mannered firefighter. And even though he still boasts biceps as big as some men’s thighs, he just doesn’t come off the same joke-cracking tough guy as usual. In fact there are no one liners here. The movie attempts to be serious and dramatic, and rather succeeds.

But placing this man in his blue collar lot, and having him attempt to infiltrate the guerrilla camp of rebels in Columbia just comes off as too much a suspension of disbelief. Arnold runs, he hides, he gets roughed up taking advice from the wrong people. It’s not the Arnold we’re used to, and has much the same effect as Dwayne Johnson taking a beating in “Snitch;” these guys are just too muscular to play the victim.

The film is stacked with a number of likable actors, and the performances come off well. As a CIA operative who wants to disrupt Columbia’s cocaine trade, Elias Koteas displays a man of equally questionable ethics as some of the film’s Columbian villains. We also see a great cameo by John Turturro as a man working in the Columbia guerrilla zone whom Gordie happens to meet by chance. John Leguizamo humorously shows up as a Cocaine overseer who secretly wants to be a rapper.

As the villain El Lopo (‘The Wolf’), Cliff Curtis (“Training Day”), is a bit of a caricature, but seems menacing enough to pose as a real threat. We see him do things (aside from the bombing) like coordinate kidnappings and murdering his own henchman should they make a mistake. He becomes the voice of the Columbian resistance, urging America to “get out of Columbia” or he will take the fight to them.

Action-wise, the film has some exciting sequences, such as some fleeing from guerrillas and an attempt at a high-octane finale, but overall “Collateral Damage” is much more a drama than an action film. There’s a great deal of suspense, a “will Gordie make it?” type drama that unfolds, and it’s this, not machismo, that keeps our attention. The one classic one liner we do get comes towards the film’s end, as El Lopo muses that if both men kill for what they want, how are they any different? “The difference is, I’m only going to kill you,” Gordie replies.

The set pieces are well done, as is the cinematography, and you do honestly feel that you are in a foreign country where you don’t belong. This is probably the film’s greatest asset. Arnold also shows some deft here playing a regular guy, and you can’t fault him for an overly ambitious script that wants too much from this ordinary guy.

The bottom line: if you like action or Arnold movies, you’ll probably like this one. But if you’re a die hard fan of classic Arnold, you may want to skip this one and watch “Commando” instead.

– by Mark Ziobro