Wasted opportunity

Rating: 5/10 (8 October 2006)

Not as good as I thought I would be. It was less about the World Trade Center events of September 11th, rather than a story of the Port Authority cops and two who became trapped in the rubble. Some parts of it were good but other parts were boring, and the boring parts far outweighed the good parts. For anyone directly affected by the events of that day, it will probably have special significance and meaning, but to me it was far short of what this movie could have been. In comparison I felt 'United 93' was a far superior movie and the opportunity this movie could have taken to pay homage to those who perished on that day was wasted. It is difficult to make a great movie about such tragic events, especially when so many of those directly affected are still alive to judge the movie, but this was just a rescue movie based on two or three characters, when it could have so easily been a great tribute to all those who perished, survived, and gave of themselves on that day and the days shortly thereafter. The typical US hero-achieves-against-outstanding-odds-complete-with-stirring-music didn't endear me to the movie either - the opportunity to real make a fitting memorial to all affected was lost, and that saddens me. Five out of 10 because it was still a good story and because Nick Cage is one of my favorite actors, but I wouldn't recommend it, and wouldn't watch it again.