Windtalkers Review

by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)
June 13th, 2002

WINDTALKERS (2002) 2 stars out of 4. Starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Christian Slater, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Van Holt, Martin Henderson, Roger Willie and Frances O' Connor. Music by James Horner. Written by John Rice & Joe Batteer. Directed by John Woo. Rated R. Running time: 134 minutes

Windtalkers is an "if only" movie, as in "if only they had adhered to the subjects of the title instead of cobbling together a script celebrating every war genre cliche."

Not that Windtalkers is a disaster. On the contrary, the movie is visually arresting, due primarliy to the fact that it was directed by the gifted John Woo who can transform the movie screen into cinematic poetry.

But Woo is short circuited by the script written by John Rice & Joe Batteer, which nearly ignores a most interesting premise to concentrate on what is basically a macho men-at-war buddy film.

Windtalkers was the nickname given to Navajo Americans recruited by the Marines and trained to use a secret military code based on their language to thwart Japan's so-far successful attempts to decrypt military transmissions.

The code was never broken and its use is considered one of the keys in winning the war in the Pacific.

The movie, however, offers very little detail about this small piece of American history. Set mostly during the Battle of Saipan, Windtalkers revolves around Marine Sgt. Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) and Sgt. Ox Anderson (Christian Slater) who are assigned to protect code talkers Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charlie Whitehorse (Roger Willie).

Enders and Anderson are ordered to keep their charges safe, but if they fall into enemy hands, the sergeants are to “protect the code at all costs.” With a setup such as this, you know a couple of these guys won’t be celebrating V-J Day.

Enders, it seems, is recovering from what could be described as shell shock, after losing the 15 men in his first command by obeying orders and fighting to hold a defenseless position.

Enders is reluctant to get too close or friendly with Yahzee because of his orders. While a good Marine and tough fighter, he is mostly a loner who walks around burdened by at least a ton or two of guilt.

Windtalkers is rife with clichés, from the growing friendship between Anderson and Whitehorse; to the young married man who wants his best friend to hold onto his wedding ring, “just in case” — you can guess what happens to him; to the unit’s big-mouthed bigot who grows to respect Yahzee.

We’ve seen it all before, unfortunately, and that is Windtalkers downfall.

Most of the characters are archetypes, familiar stock figures from the Hollywood war film assembly line.

The film excels in its battle sequences, which Woo shows as mostly disjointed sequences of chaos, smoke, fire and confusion. Death comes quickly and without warning. Woo, somehow, makes brutality, if not beautiful, than almost ballet-like.

Woo, working with director of photography Jeffrey Kimball frames the movie around sequences shot at fabled director John Ford’s old haunts in Monument Valley, and they are some of the most visually stunning sequences in the film.

Also on the plus side is James Horner’s haunting score, with its Native American themes. Its use is minimal, but it helps to punctuate some of the quieter moments between the battles.

Windtalkers is a disappointment in that it strays too far from depicting the overall contributions of the Navajos to the war effort. Instead, in trying to play it commercially safe, we get a retread of tired war themes. The Navajos deserve better.

Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette.
Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom

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