2002, R, 134 minutes

There was a time when John Woo was capable of making a pretty darn good movie - nothing deep, of course, but flicks such as Face/Off certainly have their place. Apparently he lost it. As much as I hated Mission: Impossible II, he was only aspiring to make a big-budget piece of popcorn, but with Windtalkers he confirms that he no longer has a sense of quality and what makes a narrative work. You can tell he wanted to make a really good war movie that would inspire audiences and make them appreciate what the Navajo Indians did for the United States during World War II, but unfortunately he simply fails to come even close.

In a complete throwaway performance, Nicolas Cage plays a man whose mission is to watch over a Navajo code-man named Ben (Adam Beach). The idea is to protect the code, which can't be deciphered by the Germans or Japanese, and use all means necessary to do so (in other words: kill them if they're in danger of being captured). This concept is interesting and perfect for a Hollywood movie, but the story fails to explore the possibilities, and even worse it fails to demonstrate the accomplishment and importance of such a code and the men who made it possible.

Even after watching Windtalkers I really don't know what the point of their mission was, other than to advance into Japanese territory on a small island in the Pacific. Cage and crew do exactly this and a lot of big battles ensue, most of which aren't very interesting or suspenseful, and in the end none of it really seems to matter. In fact, the only scenes that are of any interest are the moments of tension between the Navajos and a few racists who don't realize their importance.

A motion picture that strives to be popcorn and turns out to be inept is one thing; however, it's even worse when a film aspires to be moving and poignant and turns out to be dull and meaningless. Woo does a decent job of depicting a couple of gun fights and the production design is impressive, but perhaps he was too worried about that stuff to pay much attention to the story, which is what really counts.