Review of True Lies (1994) by Aaron N — 10 Dec 2009
Helen Tasker: Have you ever killed anyone?
Harry: Yeah, but they were all bad.
A romantic comedy first, an over-the-top Schwarzenegger movie second. Before Cameron went to the ocean he made his last crazy-comedic arnold movie, and it's a great joy.
Arnold stars as a man who works in the job of kicking ass for his country, he does this for a living, except its a secret to everyone else, including his family who is none the wiser.
Because of this Jamie Lee Curtis, as his wife, decides to do something to escape boredom. This prompts the main romantic comedy aspect of the movie, which Arnold takes upon himself to help his wife out.
Meanwhile, Arnold and Tom Arnold, in a role where he is actually very funny, have to stop terrorists from terrorizing things, and to do that, they must do everything in the biggest and loudest ways possible, and its great to watch. It doesn't matter how carried away things are, because it is all supposed to be fun, and it is.
Even Bill Paxton shows up, which is always welcome in any movie.
Simon: Take her! Take her! Oh, god, don't hurt me!
Action packed, funny, ridiculous, all the ingredients you need.
Harry Tasker: First I'm gonna use you as a human shield, then I gonna kill this guard over there, with the Patterson trocar on the table. Then I was thinking about breaking your neck.
Samir: And how are you going to do all that?
Harry: You know my handcuffs?
Samir: Hmm...
Harry: [hold his hands up] I picked them.
Looking back on this movie, its seems to be quite an odd pick for a Cameron film. Coming off of T2 and next moving onto Titanic, its like Cameron was just slumming it with his pal Arnie, to churn out a crazy action flick, anchored by a romantic comedy plot line. However, its still a lot of fun to watch. The effects hold up pretty well (it certainly seems like Cameron has a few hands in some effects companies at all times). The film is certainly a product of the 90s, because you just don't see this kind of unabashed, R-rated action-comedy flick these days. One final note, this is a movie that has somehow not seen an upgrade since its first DVD release. Its certainly a film that would definitely benefit from a Blu Ray release.
Lot of fun, straight up Arnie style.
Harry: Well, you see, this is the problem with terrorists. They're really inconsiderate when it comes to people's schedules.
This review of True Lies (1994) was written by Aaron N on 10 Dec 2009.
True Lies has generally received positive reviews.
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