Playing it smart, Arnold Schwarzenegger bounces back from last year's disastrous "Last Action Hero" by re-teaming with "Terminator" director James Cameron for his latest action epic, "True Lies." And the result is the summer's biggest, loudest and perhaps funniest slam-bang movie.
How good is it? It's so good . . .
. . . you'll forget all about "The Last Action Hero."
. . . it gives "Speed" a run for its money.
. . . it makes Tom Arnold an engaging — even enjoyable — character.
Now that's a good movie.
Adapted from the French film "La Totale," about a double-agent leading a double life, "True Lies" crosses 007 heroics with a Clark Kent domestic plot and blends in liberal amounts of slapstick and wisecracks.
Schwarzenegger is Harry Tasker, the No. 1 super spy for a top-secret government agency (headed up by a scarred, eye-patched Charlton Heston, who is obviously in on the joke). Tasker's partner is Gib (Tom Arnold), a bemused sidekick who also acts as this film's version of Q — he's well-versed in all the latest gadgetry.
There are two central storylines at work here, which eventually come together. In the first, Schwarzenegger is after Middle-Eastern terrorist Aziz (Art Malik), who threatens to blow up half of America with nuclear weapons. The second has Schwarzenegger deceiving his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), a mousy law clerk who thinks he's just a traveling computer salesman.
About a third into the movie, the latter element takes over as Harry gathers evidence that Helen is having an affair and comes up with an elaborate scheme to catch her in the act. (He's wrong, of course.) But his plan backfires when Aziz's men kidnap Harry and Helen.
Naturally, Helen discovers her husband has been deceiving her for 15 years, but she puts aside her feelings to help Harry save the world.
The film has its share of uncomfortable moments, occasionally taking on an unexpected mean spirit and misguidedly combining extreme violence with broad comedy — when many of the gags are already rather coarse. (That's something of a trademark for Cameron; see the "Terminator" films or "Aliens.") And though Curtis plays an interesting, amusing character, she is required in an extended scene to perform an erotic striptease, which proves to be a shameless bit of exhibitionism.
There is no question that Cameron thinks bigger is better, as "True Lies" builds one huge, flabbergasting stunt on top of another, with the film getting louder and louder along the way. Some of the stunt work and special effects are absolutely amazing, and the grab-your-arm-rest tension is right up there with "Speed."
There are also a number of jokes that spoof other movies, from James Bond (Tasker rises out of a frozen lake, removes his wet suit and is revealed to be wearing a tuxedo) to "Dr. Strangelove" (a villain unintentionally rides a rocket).
And the comedy gets a big boost from a trio of hilarious performances. Curtis, who is gradually transformed from a librarian stereotype to a sensuous woman to an action heroine, demonstrates her comic talent. Even during that aforementioned striptease, she takes a pratfall. And Tom Arnold is surprisingly endearing as Schwarzenegger's talkative, wiseacre friend, helping him out of several jams. And then there's Schwarzenegger himself, who has reached some kind of peak here with his own brand of unusual charm and deadpan line delivery.
Despite some frustrating flaws, the thrills, spills and laughs are there — and there's no doubt that "True Lies" will be one of the summer's biggest blockbusters.
It goes without saying that the film deserves its R rating, for plenty of violence and mayhem, some gore, profanity, vulgar gags and partial nudity as Curtis does a sensuous strip tease.