By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * )
John Woo, who makes great action movies, reunites with Nicolas Cage, who sometimes does too, in a World War II blockbuster set around the Battle Of Saipan in 1945.
At that time the American military hit on the idea of using the Navajo to code
messages so the Japanese couldn't intercept them. This is a true story: the Japanese never broke the Navajo code.
Woo's plot has Marine sergeants Joe Enders (Cage) and Ox Henderson (Christian Slater) safeguard "code talkers" Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach) and Charles Whitehorse (Roger Willie). The rule is, if they're likely to be captured, the sergeants must kill the Navajo. One is caught. Will the soldiers obey orders or try to save the men they've become close to?
Woo and Cage made one great thriller in Face/Off; when they face off this time, it simply isn't thrilling.
• DVD features: movie (133min); trailers.
