Wolff rating: NOT BAD
Plot summary: Ahnold is a helicopter pilot who is suspicious of technology, but finds himself drawn in to a web of cloning and deceit.
Biased, pithy comments: One doesn't generally go to Schwarzenegger films for a fix of philosophy. Ahnold films tend to be awash in nearly Nazi-esque claims that duty, heroism, meek women, discipline, and (overall) fitness are the roads to a better world. This movie doesn't break that trend in the least, but finds itself still amid the shoals of a sticky real-life dilemma---assuming you could get human cloning right, what could you use it for? What *should* you use it for? Ahnold's answer is pretty weak and has obvious holes in it---the charismatic evil guy makes a very, very good point early on in a speech (about a boy with a brain tumor) that undercuts the rest of the message of the film (that, like most technology, cloning's weird and scary and should be reined in before things get weirder, and that God, not humanity, is in charge of death. Well, God and Ahnold's pistol, anyhow). Still, around this glitchy premise (``Metropolis''-like in its inability to embrace technological change) is a pretty good 80s-style Schwarzenegger film that seems to be based on the idea that there was no better movie than ``Total Recall.'' I never liked ``Recall'' as much as, say, ``Conan,'' so my mileage varied, but the critical drubbing this took as compared to ``Eraser'' (another 80s-Schwarzenegger homage) was unfair. It's a loud, explosive time at the box office with some nifty moments.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Rapaport, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker, Sarah Wynter.
Directed by: Roger Spottiswode