Review: Collateral Damage (2002)

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A tale of unused talent.

Collateral Damage (2002) is an average action flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger that shows us the length one man will go to avenge the loss of his family. Schwarzenegger stars as Gordy Brewer, a firefighter with the LAFD and former Explosives & Arson expert, who after watching his wife and child die in a terrorist bombing finds himself alone in the battle to get justice for their deaths.

Upon learning that the terrorist is part of a socialist guerrilla outfit (the ALC) in Columbia (and recognizing the bomber as being at the scene of the explosion), Brewer becomes determined to catch the sonuvabitch at any cost. The only thing standing in his way is bureaucracy. Elias Koteas co-stars as Peter Brandt, a CIA spook, who promises to do everything to help, but really, like everyone, is pretty much trying to save ass.

Cliff Curtis turns in a solid performance as Claudio Perrini, (El Lobo, The Wolf, the cocksucker about to pay and pay hard. (It sounds better on paper.)) He's the head of the ALC and wants the Americans to quit interfering with their affairs. The typical bad guy.

So anyway, the Senate Intelligence Committee shuts down all CIA operations in Columbia as a matter of allowing the terrorists to negotiate with the local government. When Brandt breaks the news to Brewer, the widower leaps headlong into action and into the jungles of Columbia determined to bring the bastard to hell.

And so it goes, exploding set pieces, violent assaults, rather unbelievable stunts and gimmicks—the usual Schwarzenegger flick.

But alas. It's not.

I think what makes and made all of Schwarzenegger's movies so great over his trek were his abilities to ham it up, throw out one-liners with the hand grenades, kick ass and take names, and leave the dead behind as paper dolls burning.

Here, they humanize the action hero. While this would work with someone like Mel Gibson, Arnold just seems too damned odd moping about the various set pieces of doom. While it's okay at first (the first act made me actually say, "wow, dude's actually putting some acting into this"), it really isn't supposed to be that way. He's Arnold Schwarzenegger, for Christ's sake. Which I guess is why the rest of the movie is so uneven and eventually kind of a waste.

For starters, Andrew Davis is an up-and-down kind of director, and this is definitely on a down. There's a scene early on, when Brewer's running from militiamen, fleeing into a river, and over a waterfall, that was so damned fake looking that I wanted to cut out my eyes. And it was made in 2001, so there is no excuse for the crappiness of the computerized effects.

Now, what really bothered me about this film was what I felt was the misuse of an excellent cast. Either casting got screwed up and scheduling became a conflict, or someone is a very bad judge of what the hell they are doing. First off, where is the buddy in this picture? Oh, you mean he is spread over a couple different characters? Oh, you mean there really isn't one go-to guy to have his back and crack a few jokes, shoot some folks, and die or get seriously injured about the third act?

No.

I understand the concept of being the lone protagonist who will stop at nothing, but he sure does find himself teamed up quite a bit. (An excuse to have more than two pages of dialogue? Perhaps.) If they wanted a buddy picture, then they, as a team(s), should have been cutting through these assholes like shit through a goose. If they wanted a lone wolf hunting prey tale, they should have either cast unknowns or done without the banter between his jumping points.

That's why I think Arnold Schwarzenegger was miscast. This was someone else's pic.

Who else? John Leguizamo. I'm very indifferent to the personalities he brings to the screen, very up, very down. Here as Bantering Buddy #2, he is pretty much in the mid-range. He does provide one of the lighter moments in the film, but it's just not for him. Or us.

Who else? John Turturro. Seriously, what was that? You got an actor of his caliber going "Hi!" and "Bye!" within like ten—twelve minutes. He's a likeable character, too. It's like sense evaded the set. Or the writing room.

Who else? Miguel Sandoval and Harry J. Lennix as FBI agents, who aren't given much to work with and even less screen time. Lennix is an especially gifted actor, and I'm only saying that after seeing him in just a few works. His turn as Aaron in Titus is awesome.

Who else? Raymond Cruz. Ding! The badass warrior killer from Clear and Present Danger. What a perfect companion to help Brewer go into the jungle and kick some. . .oh, you mean he only gets one minute of screen time and most of the time just standing there as part of the foreground/background like a tree in a kindergarten production of The Wizard of Oz?

Who else? Elias Koteas. His character is so wrapped up in ambiguity that there is no way for the audience to feel any kind of connection with him, whether good or bad. He's just there, with not much to work with, and even less to show for it.

Who not? Francesca Neri, a beautiful actress from Italy. She's sort of a cross of Calista Flockhart and Kyra Sedgwick, but much more attractive. And she's hot in this! Good acting from her. Very cute woman and tough here.

So, does this mean it's crap?

Yes and no. Compared to others in its genre and era, I'd say yes. But it does have some nice acting in spots, good action in others. There's an excellent twist to it all, but in the end is rather mediocre.

For its Genre/Era/X: Okay.

Overall: Good.

Rated R: for violence and a bit of cussing.

Running time: About 110 minutes.

Production Still 2002 Warner Bros.
Neri Picture 2001 MGM

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