The Siege
As Reviewed by James Brundage
I figured it would happen. Directors on streaks of good movies always falter at some point, and now was the time for Edward Zwick. After directing Glory, Legends of the Fall, and Courage Under Fire, three fine thriller-dramas about honor and war, one of the few studio directors left that had literary content left in him (aside, of course, from the obvious Kubrick and Spielburg), has now turned his attention to the straight foreword action movie The Siege.
The Siege tells the story of four terrorist cells reigning fire upon New York City (Brooklynites aiming at Manhattan, of course). It starts with nice action and keeps the nice action. It even throws in an element of mystery with Annette Benning's character, a CIA operative working illegally in New York. The characters are good, the action well paced, and the terrorists standard action film villains, never without a bomb or an uzi or a handgun. Then we have to bring in Bruce Willis. Sure, he's the good-luck charm for apocalypse movies, and on straight foreword he's the way to go, but when you're looking to make literary content, he's just not supposed to be at the top of your list.
Having lived near New York, I was looking forward to seeing terrorists take it down, and enjoyed the film up until the bring in the nasty old military. The story was much more fun and intriguing before good ole Bruce shows up. The military comes and you do an about face. The bombers of the city become the unintentional heroes, the people to be pitied, and you put Bruce Willis as ... a villain? Exactly how did the second half make it past the Beverly Hills screeners, is my question?
Movie Reviews by James Brundage