A silly outlandish comic book movie which has some historical significance (no kidding) - it was the first hit Arnie had without the backing of a big character, like Conan or The Terminator. Arnie basically plays Arnie.
The set up and ticking clock are all fine - Arnie is an ex special ops guy living in the mountains with his daughter, who is kidnapped in order for Arnie to kill the president of a fictitious country. When Arnie knocks off his watcher on a plane, he knows he's only got X hours before the plane lands to rescue his daughter.
That gives the film good pace, although it's a shame Arnie never goes to the country and/or gets the president involved. There are other gaping holes in the story - why doesn't Arnie call his officer James Olson right away? (They could have covered it by having Arnie think the government might be in on the conspiracy but they don't.) Why did they bother killing off members of his team at the beginning other than to have an exciting opening sequence? Isn't it an awfully risky strategy for him to turn up on the island and starting to kill everyone before he found his daughter?
But the film has so many things going for it. James Horner's score is genuinely great - catchy and a bit different. The cast is fantastic: Alyssa Milano as the daughter; Rae Dawn Chong in the Madeleine Carroll 39 Steps part; David Patrick Kelly and Bill Duke as baddies; Dan Hedaya in brown face as a villain; Bill Paxton in a small role; and most of all Vernon Wells as Arnie's psycho former colleague (should've done more in Hollywood, Wells, he's great). It has a cheerful nature. It's very violent - things being plunged into chests and so on - but none of it feels real. It's silly and crappy and gets worse as it goes along but the foundations are strong and Arnie is perfect in the lead.
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