Good Message - Wrong Words

Rating: 5/10 (30 March 2006)

Given the presence of high-quality actors like Cage and the importance of the theme, I would say that this movie falls short of expectations, because of the uninteresting way it chooses to tell you "truths about life". Although there is a clear and distinct storyline in "Lord of War", I would not say that this is a story-driven movie, since there is hardly anything out-of-the-ordinary in it. What "Lord of War" really is - is a "slogan-driven" narrative. There is a short film-within-the film in the opening sequence that tells the story of the making and firing of a bullet. It starts at the factory where the bullet is made, then follows the route of the box full of bullets, and finally a black man shoots his Kalashnikov rifle, loaded with this same bullet, which zips through the air and bursts someone's head open. That's the whole message, told with the immaculate perfection of shortness. The moment it was finished I just knew that the rest of the story would just drag on and on, because, really, there is nothing more to it than that: dealing in bullets is dealing in death. Though true, it is totally unoriginal - we all know it and there is no reason to make another film saying the same words. Cage plays well, but there is something profoundly wrong about his character: he has no remorse, no second thoughts, no conscience. Where, then, is the drama? Nothing seems to touch him and, frankly, that's exactly the way how I feel about this film. Secondly, Cage's character is confronted with no real antagonists and therefore - no real challenges - in the movie. The CIA officer is completely lost against Cage and the African warlords all like him, so what is supposed to create suspense here? All in all it's an average achievement with some instances of particularly uninspiring thinking and the characters' words are as slogan-like and lifeless as they can be.