Windtalkers Mini-Review
2.5 stars/5 stars
The latest film directed by John Woo, the Hong Kong director famed for his action
sequences, is about Navajos serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War
II. These soldiers used their language to formulate a communication code used
by the American military that the Japanese were unable to break. The action
sequences in “Windtalkers” follow the recent trend (e.g. “Saving
Private Ryan”) of showing more gore in war films. Woo does a nice job
of shooting these scenes: They are crisp and create undeniable tension for the
audience. The acting by Nicholas Cage and Christian Slater, who are officers
assigned to protect these Navajo code-talkers, is also first-rate. But the plot
is never smart enough for the action. The film fails in tired moments where
Private Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), one of the Navajo soldiers, fights racism from
his fellow white soldiers or performs a mystical Native American ceremony. The
tale of these Navajo soldiers could have been very riveting, but instead the
action scenes are the primary driver of the movie.