Windtalkers

December 10, 2004

Rated: R Runtime: 134 min Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Windtalkers has absolutely nothing to do with flatulence even though some of our reviewers say they can “windtalk” with their cheeks. It also doesn’t really have that much to do with teaching the history of the United States military’s use of Navajos as code talkers during World War II. However, it has everything to do with showing some of the most graphic and visually stunning battlefield action sequences we’ve seen to date.

Windtalkers

During World War II, the Japanese proved quite adept at breaking U.S. codes until the military decided to deploy a new code based on the language of a native american tribe called the Navajos. Hundreds of Navajos were recruited to be used as code talkers, and they proved highly effective. They could encode and decode messages in mere minutes and the Japanese were unable to break this new code.

The story in Windtalkers centers around a Marine named Joe Enders, played by Nicolas Cage. He is assigned to one of the Navajo code talkers, played by Adam Beach, with orders to protect the code. If you can’t read between the lines, this means do not let the Navajo fall into enemy hands alive. He is to protect him if he can, but kill him if he has to in order to keep the code talker out of enemy hands.

All of this is really just the premise for some hellacious battle sequences. We learn a little about Enders. We also learn just enough about the Yahzee, the code talker, to find him to be a nice guy and not want to see him die. That’s about it for real character development here. The movie is battle sequence after battle sequence with very little downtime inbetween. There is just almost too much action even for us! By the end of the movie we’ve seen so many explosions and people getting shot that it truly is starting to feel like overkill.

However, credit where it is due, John Woo really did a great job with these action sequences. It doesn’t do quite as well as Saving Private Ryan at having us feel like we’re in the action. However, it is as least as good as Black Hawk Down at showing how fast paced and hectic battle can be. If you like your war movies heavy on action and light on plot, this one is a must-see.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 4 Stars, Action, Adam Beach, Christian Slater, Emily Mortimer, Nicolas Cage, Noah Emmerich, R, Theatrical