(the trailer is slightly better without the the annoying pop-up ads.)
Usually, I'm indifferent to these types of movies. But I found myself completely sold on this movie from the first time I saw that trailer on a TV screen in the lobby of a movie theater (because, apparently, we can't travel more than 100 feet without having something projected at us). I mean, how can you say no? First off, you have Liam Neeson filling the Steven Seagal role. The trailer hints (and the movie confirms) that this gave Neeson the chance to do some respected-actor-genre-movie-slumming and have fun with it.
(As opposed to the respected-actor-genre-movie-slumming he did in Phantom Menace, which only provided him with months spent in front of a green screen followed by a lifetime of having to curse silently to himself everytime a fanboy approaches him and earnestly says, "Qui-Gon, man. Qui-Gon.")
In addition to affording us the chance to watch Oskar Schindler let loose and kick some ass, the movie also promised a clear, defined thesis: "If you don't [let my daughter go], I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you." The entire plot and narrative thrust of the movie encapsulated in a sentence. Syd Field would be very proud.
Now, the movie has its negative points. Specifically, the potentially "borderline racist" depiction of Arabs. I don't know if I'd go right to the word "racist," but it does have some very cartoon-y portrayals of various Middle Eastern stereotypes. In addition, it goes without saying that the "white American breaks faces, tortures and kills to get the information he wants" / 24 vibe of the film is worth questioning in today's world.
The bigger issue for me was the "ZOMG THA WORLD IZ SCARRY!!!" vibe. I understand that, for plot purposes, the daughter has to get kidnapped once she decides to travel to Europe. (Otherwise, it's 90 minutes of Neeson smashing noses as he works his way up the Wal-Mart customer service chain to get a full refund on a busted karaoke machine.) Still, I figured she would travel to a couple of countries, or at least go see some sights in Paris. Nope - within 15 minutes of landing at Charles De Gaulle, she's scooped up. The movie made it look like customs had three lines: "E.U. Passports," "All Other Passports," and "White Girls Headed For Sex Slavery." The big takeaway? Never travel outside the U.S. or else you. Will. Die.
So perhaps xenophobia is the proper social disorder on display here. Still, it seems strange for "all non-Americans stink" to be the intended message, as almost every member of the behind-the-scenes creative team are from France themselves. There's no way the movie was set up to be a right-wing screed to scare off any potential Parisian visitors from leaving America. No, it's much more likely that this was an attempt to show American audiences why the French hate Algerians so much. Maybe that's why it doesn't feel so bad - when surrendering to entertainment through prejudice, at least have said prejudices be a different culture's.
Or maybe the dinner scene is just too great to let politics get in the way. I'll get back to you on that after I watch it again.
Why I Am Awesome: I am confident that I am not racist and that I fully support the quest for universal human rights.
Why I Am Not Awesome: I nevertheless enjoyed watching Liam Neeson jam electrodes into the legs of a "shifty Arab dude" and flick a light switch until he got the information he wanted. Looks like I might have to return my Amnesty International membership card.
The scene where he jams the rods into that guy's knees was cut out of the version I saw. How suck is that? It's the whole reason I wanted to watch it in the first place.
ReplyDeleteIt seems we watched the international version, and the rod-jamming was one of the things they had to take out to get the rating the wanted in the U.S. So, to clarify: shooting, stabbing and beating is OK, but the inserting of electrodes is not. Gotcha.
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