Entertaining but unextraordinary Hollywood war film

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2002)

Windtalkers was an entertaining movie, but did not rise above the level of a standard Hollywood war film.
The movie claims to be about the "codetalkers," Navajo officers in the Army who were enlisted to communicate in a code made from their native language during World War II, but that premise seems to be merely an excuse for generating a chain of overblown action set pieces. Anyone hoping that Windtalkers will give proper attention to this unique and largely forgotten part of World War II will be disappointed. In the end, it's just a series of ultraviolent war sequences depicted in a similar vein to most war movies since Saving Private Ryan.
I think John Woo was a poor choice to direct this movie. His melodramatic slow motion, stylistic gun shootouts and fascination with blood capsules have served him well in his hardcore action films like The Killer and Face/Off, but it doesn't work in a war film. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some World War II veterans might be somewhat offended by the glorification of violence in the movie. Unlike Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, or Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, both of which gave a distinct impression of the hell of war, Windtalkers seems to fall back on a John Wayne formula of sorts, giving us cliched characters and situations, overblown heroics and not enough emotional investment to truly pull the audience in.
Having said that, I enjoyed the film. I like Nicholas Cage and he gives a good performance here with the script he was given. It was entertaining enough to keep my attention, but it will not be going in my DVD collection. Perhaps a good movie for fans of war films, but it will not appeal to mass audiences who have seen much better war films in recent years.