(1996)
2.5
Adam Goldberg
Directed by Hong Kong action auteur John Woo, Broken Arrow is Woo's big-budget follow-up to the smaller-scale Jean Claude Van-Damme vehicle Hard Target. This second Hollywood collaboration again illustrates that Woo possesses a gift for staging bullet-blazing battle sequences and titanic explosions. Unfortunately, this flashy endeavor completely lacks the three-dimensional characters and sharp dialogue seen in classic action films like Die Hard. Screenwriter Graham Yost inundates his script with epic action sequences, but the top-notch special effects and behemoth detonations fail to accelerate the sluggish and talky narrative. This film simply lacks the heart, characterization, and humor of Yost's screenplay for Speed. Another considerable problem with the movie is that John Travolta is wildly miscast as the sneering villain. Without fail, Travolta is appealing as the lovable scoundrel (i.e. Pulp Fiction and Get Shorty), but here his charm is flattened by his over-the-top, narrow-eyed performance. Broken Arrow can best be described as diluted John Woo, lacking the lively comic book style that has made him a cult favorite. The Woo devotee will notice that his patented use of slow motion and freeze-frames is almost totally absent in this effort. While the film manages to be a mildly entertaining, Hollywood-style actioner, most viewers expect much more from a master like Woo.
Broken Arrow on AllMovie
Broken Arrow (1996)
