A pleasingly old-fashioned war epic

Rating: 7/10 (4 December 2016)

John Woo's Second World War film is, it has to be said, no equal for his 1980s classic HEROES SHED NO TEARS, which pushed the boundaries of cinema whilst at the same time offering a decent war-time actioner. WINDTALKERS reunites two of Woo's previous heroes – Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater – into what is a generally effective war film, chronicling the lives of those courageous men who risked and more often than not sacrificed their lives in battle against the enemy. Woo charts the expected friendships, post traumatic stress, injuries, and racism with moderate success, and he's helped by a good quality cast – especially the unknown Beach as the sympathetic Native American hero. Cage is introspective and tormented, which is something a little different from his usual characters; I liked him, and I also liked Slater's work here immensely.
But things never change and, as usual, the cinematography and action sequences are what work best in this movie. Woo offers tons of bomb-laden action and doesn't shy away from the full horrors of warfare either – there are decapitations, throat-slittings, and limbs being blown off, all shown in unflinching detail. The film does become a little repetitive as it shows Cage machine-gunning dozens of the Japanese enemy but hey, COMMANDO was a repetitive movie and still stands as one of the action genre's best. The special effects are tremendous – especially the CGI bombers flying over the lush countryside – and war fans will be left happy with what is a pretty good genre effort, and pleasingly old-fashioned in this post-modern era.