Windtalkers film review

certificate_15

WINDTALKERS

Action movie maestro John Woo reunites with his Face/Off leading man Nicolas Cage on this spectacular World War II drama, focusing on the 1945 Battle Of Saipan.

During the conflict, the US forces turned to the Navajo to encode their messages to prevent Japanese forces intercepting vital information. The bold move paid off handsomely - the enemy never broke the Navajo code, giving the Americans a vital military advantage.

Windtalkers relives these glory days from the perspective of marine sergeants Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) and "Ox" Henderson (Christian Slater), who are enlisted to guarantee the safety of code talkers Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charles Whitehorse (Roger Willie).

Both soldiers are given express instructions to kill their Navajo wards if capture appears imminent. The relationship between the soldiers and the Navajo is tested to the limit during the battle, when the advancing Japanese forces capture one of the team. Do Enders and Henderson follow orders, or will personal feelings cloud their judgement, and initiate a far more perilous course of action?

Woo's trademark directorial flourishes (slow motion violence, outrageous stunts) are very much in evidence, and ruin any semblance of reality in the recreations of the battle. The skirmishes are so slickly choreographed, they become elevated almost to grand opera. You don't feel part of the action: too many of the set-pieces take place at a distance, rather than the unsettling in-your-face approach of films like Saving Private Ryan and We Were Soldiers.

Cage and Slater wander through the carnage, as if in a daze, lifelessly uttering the lines then taking cover as the special effects and pyrotechnics departments do the rest. Supporting characters are a rum bunch of stereotypes, from the racist corporal (Noah Emmerich) who comes to appreciate the heroism of the Navajo on the battlefields, to a simpering nurse (Frances O'Connor) who believes in Enders, even if he does not.

The film makes a half-hearted attempt to explore the Ben and Charles's customs and spirituality, but the impromptu chanting round fires and Navajo flute-playing seem hokey.

Windtalkers is ultimately a soulless tour of duty.