Collateral Damage

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal"><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Cast:</span>Arnold Schwarzenegger<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Directed by:</span>Andrew Davis<br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Rating:</span> ***<br /><#img ="99" width="129" src="-00.jpg" alt="-00.jpg" border="0" /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">Mr Muscles is back in action.Still adept at vanquishing adversaries with his bare hands, Schwarzenegger wears his 54 years quite well. The spectacular success of some of his earlier violent adventures (Conan The Barbarian, Terminator, True Lies) has already propelled the career of the Austrian Oak to the status of a myth. <br />Come to think of it, the teaming of the last action hero with director Davis (The Fugitive, Under Siege) should have resulted in a solid actioner. Unfortunately, Collateral Damage is a crushing disappointment. <br />A lame-brained political thriller, its international release was delayed due to the film''s unexpected parallels with the horrifying WTC attack of September 11. <br />The convoluted script casts Arnie as a Los Angeles firefighter and devoted family man who is devastated when his wife and son are killed in a terrorist blast. When he realises that justice won''t be forthcoming from the investigating government agencies, our fireman predictably transforms himself into a one-man avenging army. Carrying only a backpack, Arnie rampages through the jungles of Colombia to exterminate a guerrilla mastermind (Cliff Curtis). <br />We are subjected to the usual barrage of bullets, explosions and frayed tempers as the fireman-turned-vigilante confronts the local militia, drug lords and a horde of trigger-happy freedom fighters. <br />In the midst of all the carnage, he even finds time to develop a tenuous bond with the baby-faced baddie''s mysterious wife (Francesca Neri). <br />Come to think of it, the teaming of the last action hero with director Davis (The Fugitive, Under Siege) should have resulted in a solid actioner. Unfortunately, Collateral Damage is a crushing disappointment. <br />A lame-brained political thriller, its international release was delayed due to the film''s unexpected parallels with the horrifying WTC attack of September 11. <br />Throughout, the dialogue and the characterisations are a let-down. And the action scenes are surprisingly tame. <br />To be fair, Schwarzenegger, the aging terminator still has sufficient strength and stamina to handle the physically demanding sequences with conviction. <br />The only significant performances here are delivered by John Turturro as a libidinous prisoner and John Leguizamo as a cocaine baron aspiring to become a rap artiste. <br />In the end, despite the semblance of topicality lent it by recent world events, Collateral Damage founders under the weight of its own mediocrity. Worth a glance, but only if there is no alternative. </div> </div>