By RUSSELL BAILLIE
(Herald rating: * * *)
It's very easy to dislike Behind Enemy Lines for all sorts of reasons. Yes, it's a glib, presposterous and gung-ho Hollywood war picture. Yes, it's yet another movie which has a fetish-like interest in just what various bits of military technology and weapons do,
rendered in a style that's pure Soldier of Fortune-meets-MTV by debuting director Moore (a former commercials-maker who here graduates to feature-length recruitment posters).
And yes, it's largely a waste of good actors, whether it's Wilson, playing it straight after some memorable comedy supporting turns, as a maverick US Navy pilot shot down over Bosnia and trying to survive, or Hackman, who, as his commanding officer is torn between obeying the orders of those darn foreigners in charge of Nato, who don't wish to upset the peace process and bring his flyboy home.
But for all that, Behind Enemy Lines is rather a lot of fun, in a rock'n'roll Commando Comic kind of way.
Educational too — you'll learn how it feels to be an F-18 trying to dodge surface-to-air guided missiles and what happens when the aerobatics don't quite work.
But then comes the lovingly rendered slo-mo ejector seat sequence. Wow, cool. Wow, pointless.
On the ground Wilson is soon pursued through the wintry Balkan countryside by genocidal, swarthy, chain-smoking Serbs. No wonder they can't keep up.
Yes, there is a higher purpose to Wilson's escape bid, which has to do with his original reconnaissance mission, the Bosnian Muslims who Nato are supposedly protecting, and the fate of his pilot — he was the plane's navigator.
Now on the ground, he's orienteering for his life while dodging hailstorms of bullets, landmines and — when his pursuers come too close — second-hand smoke.
Which is enough of a cat-and-mouse chase to keep Behind Enemy Lines as tautly exciting and grimly stylish as it is frequently stupid and hopelessly rah-rah.
Yes, it's B-movie fun but about the time our hero ejects, it's advisable that your brain follows suit.
Cast: Owen Wilson, Gene Hackman
Director: John Moore
Rating: M (violence, offensive language)
Running time: 106 mins
Screening: Village, Hoyts, Berkeley cinemas
