Collateral Damage (2002)

Now I finally get to watch some more modern Arnold movies. I started it off with “Collateral Damage”. Sad part is, I wasn’t too excited to watch it. My manager at work warned me about this movie, saying it is one of Arnold’s worst movies. And to kick it off, IMDB’s rating isn’t so keen on it either. But I figured I’d make the best I could out of it. I mean it still has Arnold in it, cheesy lines and over the top action will be in this movie? RIGHT?! Click Read More to see my utter disappointment.

Local hero and firefighter Gordon Brewer (Schwarzenegger) is having his regular day when it all gets flipped upside down. His wife and son are tragically killed in a terrorist bombing, and he is out for revenge. After finding out that Claudio “The Wolf” Perrini (Cliff Curtis) is the terrorist. Arnold goes down to Columbia to find him and follow up on his revenge. Watch him as he single-handedly take down a whole Columbian Guerrilla group.

Claudio is going to get what is coming for him.

So from the short summary of the movie, it does feel a bit Rambo-eque. But sadly this movie is none of that. And even worse is the fact the movie was really building up toward that. Gordon wants to take matters in his own hands, does some homework and figures out the easiest and safest way to get into Columbia. He maps out the forests and local landscapes, gets some insider help, packs up and leaves. The problem lies here, his escapades down in Columbia is boring. There aren’t any awesome gunfights or anything adventurous by that means. He just walks around, talks to some locals and travels around. That is it ... boring.

Though I think a big problem of the movie is that it is too serious. Like I previously stated before, if Arnold is in this movie, I want something over the top. Those are the only roles he can play really good. He is rather bland and boring when he wants to act all serious and ninja like. This role would of easily been better suited for Liam Neeson.

"Hi I am Arnold and this is my serious face"

And this brings me to how un-Arnold this movie is. There are only a few, if any, one-liners in Collateral Damage, which is a bummer. Secondly, the action (the minute amount of it) sucked. It was boring, predictable and just plain. Thirdly, there is no redeeming comedy in this movie, so I couldn’t even enjoy laughing at anything.

I hate to write such a short blog about this, but this movie was a letdown. I felt like nothing happened in the movie, and so there is nothing to write about. The action is lacking, the story is bland and the atmosphere is too serious for me to enjoy. I don’t think anyone should ever need to watch this movie.

Arnold Rating:

One-liners: There are none, so boo!!

Action: Very bland and boring. You've seen this a thousand times, you don't need to see it in a terrible movie.