Poll Position: "Backdraft"

After one of our hottest polls, you guys picked “Backdraft” to be the movie we watch. I was glad to see that Robert De Niro was in this movie, over the recent months he was slowly becoming one of my favourite actors. But enough about him, this movie is filled with action, drama and great actors. I was almost sure that I was going to enjoy this. See the full details of how I actually felt after the jump.

After watching his father die in a tragic apartment fire and being pictured for the cover of LIFE magazine, Brian McCaffrey (William Baldwin) is destined to be a great firefighter like his father. His older brother Stephen (Kurt Russell) pulls some strings to get Brian to work at the same fire department as him. The two don’t get along right away, forcing Brian to quit being a firefighter and be an investigator for the fire department. The rookie pairs up with one of the legends, Donald Rimgale (De Niro), to solve the series of arson that is being lighting up the city of Chicago.

De Niro stole the show in my eyes.

This movie starts off with a blast, with the death of two men in fifteen minutes. So I was being lead on to believe that this was going to be an action filled movie. The visuals were stunning and all the fire fighter scenes were amazing. I really felt like I was in the heat of the moment, but they lasted only for a short time. Majority of the movie is a drama between the brothers and a few politicians. Sadly this was the low part of the movie; the drama felt too dragged on and really bored me out.

But what really caught my attention was the investigating and detective work with Donald and Brian. The chemistry between the two was awesome and subtle hints the movie drops really got me thinking who the arsonist was. I did eventually know the arsonist before the movie revealed it, but not right away. Sadly, these scenes were short lived so I really couldn’t enjoy it all that much. On a side note, I really liked the 80’s montage in this film.

Stephen and Brian facing off their first fire together.

After the investigating work and family drama, the movie gives one last firefighting scene. Thinking this would be epic, I was disappointed, it was real cliché and bland. Nothing extraordinary was given when it came to story or drama. The visuals were again amazing, but did not make up for the boring climax. To sum it all up, this movie was very Hollywood especially towards the end with its overemotional drama and portrayal of firefighters. But this is what sells movies, so I should have expected this.

Overall, I felt this movie was a great detective movie wrapped with amazing actions and visuals but harshly ruined by the mediocre drama and story. I wouldn't be surprised if I forget about this movie a few weeks from now. It is by far a very average movie with an outstanding cast that's all.