#26 Windtalkers
Year: 2002
Director: John Woo
MPAA Rating:
Epic Co-stars: Bobby Cox, Carl Hungus, Lucius Malfoy, Hard Harry
Running Time: 134 minutesCage Time:
Cage Kills: 73
Cage Flip-outs: 2
Shauna's Review:
This is one of my previously-seen Cage treats. I couldn't remember if it was a genuinely moving and thrilling war movie or a classic Cage camp-fest. I wasn't left in suspense for too long. Native American soldiers kiss their families goodbye and head off to poorly acted code-talking classes. Nic Cage appears in a scrappy skirmish somewhere in Japan. After getting hit with a grenade, Nic Cage suffers ear damage. He broods over a partially shaved eyebrow in a marine hospital until he is permitted back into the fight. He's assigned with Christian Slater to protect one of the Navajo code-talkers. He's bummed to miss out on "killing Japs" although I would think that anyone in his position would get to kill plenty of people. Plus, he's Nic Cage. Goes without saying.
At any rate, Cage is told to "protect the code at all costs... we can't let the code get into enemy hands, etc." (So he's supposed to keep the guy alive if possible, but kill him if he might get captured). If you've ever seen a movie before, you can probably predict where this is going. The Navajo (Adam Beach, also seen on SVU) is eager to become friends with Cage, who is predictably sullen and cranky, what with the having-to-kill-this-guy-someday-maybe thing and the having-flashbacks-to-war-whenever-there's-a-fan-nearby thing. I'm writing this only 35 minutes into the damn thing, and I can already tell you, he's going to warm up to the guy whether he wants to or not, so he should just stop being a dick.
The music is completely ridiculous for this movie. James Horner is a fine composer, but the mood is all wrong. The action is all Saving Private Ryan, but the soundtrack is sheer Indiana Jones. All melodramatic, sweeping strings and insouciant trumpets. There should be a man in a fedora kicking ass or a couple of furry little Ewoks shrieking as they fall out of trees. It definitely seems like WWII was a significant enough event to merit a more serious soundtrack. Probably.
On the one hand, this movie is very silly, which is kinda odd for a war movie, especially one that is clearly trying to be moving and significant. The fake blood is super red, and the purportedly gory injuries are uber-fake (including one guy who gets a hand cut off). We spent most of the movie going, "What the hell? Why would they do that? What is this?" On the other hand, Nic Cage's character is nut balls war-crazy and he has a few fine freakouts. This is a fine example of Cage's no-smile policy.
Plot Holes:
This is one of my previously-seen Cage treats. I couldn't remember if it was a genuinely moving and thrilling war movie or a classic Cage camp-fest. I wasn't left in suspense for too long. Native American soldiers kiss their families goodbye and head off to poorly acted code-talking classes. Nic Cage appears in a scrappy skirmish somewhere in Japan. After getting hit with a grenade, Nic Cage suffers ear damage. He broods over a partially shaved eyebrow in a marine hospital until he is permitted back into the fight. He's assigned with Christian Slater to protect one of the Navajo code-talkers. He's bummed to miss out on "killing Japs" although I would think that anyone in his position would get to kill plenty of people. Plus, he's Nic Cage. Goes without saying.
 |
| Nicolas Cage's character hurts his ear. |
The music is completely ridiculous for this movie. James Horner is a fine composer, but the mood is all wrong. The action is all Saving Private Ryan, but the soundtrack is sheer Indiana Jones. All melodramatic, sweeping strings and insouciant trumpets. There should be a man in a fedora kicking ass or a couple of furry little Ewoks shrieking as they fall out of trees. It definitely seems like WWII was a significant enough event to merit a more serious soundtrack. Probably.
 |
| Nicolas Cage's character likes shouting. |
Movie quotability:
- "You're a mess, Joe. You're not fooling anybody." "No, HE's a mess."
- "I Nava-know how to use a cup."-Skyler
- "She walks right up to me and asks me if I'm hungry, 'cause she's having a weenie roast... Now I'm in Saipan with this giant Zippo on my back and I'm burning human beings."
- "I'm here to kill Japs, not Marines."
- "How's that for ignorant fool, huh?"
- "You done good on that hill today Yahtzee."
- "What a magical pile of Navajo horseshit."
Plot Holes:
- Like anybody would have the last name Van Holt.
- War. What is it good for?
- Cage can easily get on the opposite side of the enemy line when they are infiltrating the Japanese.
- Nic Cage gets shot in the heart but takes minutes to die. (Spoiler)
CAGEamatic
| 
Cinamatic
| |
|---|---|---|
| Skyler |
Successful
|
Poor
|
| Shauna | 
| 
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| James |
3.32/5.00
|
1.74/5.00
|
| Martine |
!Tapped out at first blood.!
| |
