Worst War Movie of the 2000s so Far

Rating: 4/10 (5 November 2002)

I've seen all of the notable military movies of the 1990s and 2000s -- BLACK HAWK DOWN, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, WE WERE SOLDIERS, BAND OF BROTHERS, PEARL HARBOR ... this one takes the cake as being one of the worst.

Nicholas Cage is a Marine Sergeant, who barely survived a botched mission on Guadalcanal. He's assigned to look after Pvt. Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) -- a Navajo Code Talker -- during the invasion of Saipan.
Here's why this movie was so bad. For one thing, not many of the characters have much personality. They're all two-dimensional cliches that we've seen hundreds of times before.
Secondly, the movie is titled WINDTALKERS but really has little to do with the Navajo Code. It's mostly about Nicolas Cage's mixed emotions after coming out of his harrowing Guadalcanal experience.
Third, Nicolas Cage can't act. When the General asks him, "Do you understand what I'm saying?" Cage responds, "Yes sir, I do." and it sounds more yes "Yes, sir, I DOO??" as if he's asking a question. The man has little talent I fail to understand how he's gotten so far in Hollywood.

Fourth -- John Woo may have a talent for action sequences, but the ones in this movie are WAAAYYYY too Hollywood for my taste. I'd expect an American to run around with a Tommy gun blasting dozens of enemy soldiers a second without getting a scratch in a John Wayne movie or an Italian adventure flick -- but not an American movie from 2002!!! It made war look like a whole lot of fun and through in a lot of blood and violence that was very out of place.
Finally, the ending was very predictable and over-exaggerated. Too many subplots were left unresolved. For example, Cage continually receives letters from his fiancee, which he refuses to answer; but about 2/3 of the way through the subplot just disappears and we never hear a word about the girl again.
On a good note -- the cinematography was very good; just as good as in THE THIN RED LINE and the classic BEACH RED. It really looked like Saipan and was very believable in that aspect.
Overall, this movie was far too Hollywood and pro-war for my taste. I don't mind it in an Italian war movie, where that's to be expected -- but, COME ON, an American movie from 2002? For a good modern war film, see SAVING PRIVATE RYAN or BLACK HAWK DOWN. Rating: 4/10.