Windtalkers

Synopsis

A pair of US Marines are forced to be together during the campaign of Saipan. One is a Navajo Code Talker, the other the "protector."

Review

As I was watching this, I checked the scores and they are not good. Critics gave it a 33% and audiences gave it a 50%. These are low. Too low. However, one of the reviews I think is spot on.

The actions scenes are either epic and awesome, or predictable, over the top, and boring. This was prime you never run out of ammo timeframe. They do reload, but Nicolas Cage seems to be carrying 6000 rounds of .45 for his Thompson. It is crazy.

The characters follow the same path of older War movies. A group of friends like each other, a new guy with a different skin color joins the group, and they initially don't like him. Until one of the original group goes too far, but is still saved by the new guy. We all know the story.

It is nice to see a young Mark Ruffalo, and honestly I think he is one of the better characters. Plus his little trope of hyperventilating when he gets excited so he keeps a brown paper bag around is just funny.

I also really don't like how they showed video at the end of the actors like their characters were real. It just feels disingenuous.

My Rating

Because I listened to Code Talker, I wanted this to be good. Chester Nez was talked to for the movie, so I expected a bit more authenticity. However, they didn't take into effect a lot of Navajo culture that would dictate their actions on the battlefield. The action is 90% of the movie, with so little told during the action that it is just filler for a movie that could be an hour shorter. At 2.5 hours, it is too long. It is a 6 at best.

Parental Rating

There is a lot of gore and language for the sake of gore and language being "needed" in a war movie. There is no nudity or drugs. My dad and I watched it together the first time and I know he isn't a big fan, and the language is the primary cause. I am going to say rejected by both. It just isn't a good movie to justify my dad getting over the language.

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