OK, here is the premise. A fireman's (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wife and son get blown up when a terrorist (Cliff Curtis) is trying to destroy some target. He googles "terrorist" on his home computer, finds out who is responsible, and goes off into the jungle to capture him. He escapes. In the meantime, he hooks up with the terrorist's wife (Francesca Neri), wins her to his side, and they go off back to the States to catch him. If that is not the most unbelievable plot you can imagine, then there are some twists and turns that are even more incredible. But, who cares? This is the Governator kicking some major butt like he did in True Lies, Commando, and many other movies that you and I watch over and over. Italian actress Neri (Live Flesh) is hot, Curtis (Whale Rider) makes a perfect terrorist, and one of my favorites, John Leguizamo (Land of the Dead), plays a great part. Even Monk's agoraphobic brother, John Turturro, is here. Wow! But, it's all about the damage, collateral and otherwise, that draws you to the movie. The fireman turned terminator turns up the heat (red, of course) and proceeds to erase the terrorist.

Yes, another typical Arnold Schwarnegger film which translates to (a) interesting all the way; (b) very violent; (c) very far-fetched. Here, Arnold is just a plain old fireman but he turns into superhero, doing things only Superman or Batman could accomplish....but it's still fun to watch. After seeing his wife and kid blown up by Columbian terrorists, Arnold goes after the latter, traveling to the jungles of that South American country and taking them on! In the end, he's in Washington trying to diffuse another terrorist plot. He's amazing. What CAN'T this guy do? Yes, it's ludicrous....but it's not meant to be taken seriously, folks! It's just entertainment for fans of action movies, nothing more. There is a nice twist at the end of this story and it involves a very intriguing-looking woman, Francesco Neri. I just love that woman's face: very sexy, especially for someone her age. She's also in "Hannibal" but I think the rest of her films are Italian. I would like to see more of her work. There are also some short appearances by two always-entertaining actors, John Turturro and John Leguizimo. Scharwarznegger's action films usually have a fair amount of tongue-in-cheek humor and those two actors help along those lines in this film. Elias Koteas plays the too-gung-ho FBI guy. Hollywood just will not portray an FBI, CIA, DEA, or any government agent in a positive manner. That would offend their liberal peers in the movie business, so Koteas plays the lawman you can't trust in this movie. In fact, they make it so you don't know if you can trust anyone in the government, which also is typical Hollywood fare. Don't believe the national critics, however, if they panned this film. It's two hours of good escapist fare.

Imagine this picture: A room full of students, future filmmakers. They are watching a movie, Collateral Damage, an average action movie, but with a big problem an absurd story, an ideological story. The students are learning how to be subtle and convince the viewer of their personal points of views without making their future movies an advertisement. That's why they first must learn what not to do. Collateral Damage is a fine example of how to insult the intellect of the audience and spit the message in their faces. The bigotry that is palpable in this excuse of a fictional work is unbelievable lame. Every old trick in the history of screen writing is used in a self-indulgent manner. There's even more! Davis is a great director as he proved in The Fugitive, he could mix action and drama in a superb way. But here he fails miserably because his lead actor (Schwarzenegger) is too dull for this role and the action is lack. Schwarzenegger in the last years tried to play new roles. But it seems that the only one that succeeded in creating a different image for the Austrian-American actor was James Cameron in True Lies. If someone supposes that the writers made an investigation of how is the life in Colombia and the liaisons between "carteles" and authorities of both countries, then it would be wise for that person to read more serious newspapers and watch less movies like this one. This film had its controversy because the people of Colombia felt this movie as an insult. Colombia is a poor country that has suffered terrorism for decades and that is not something that should be used by opportunist filmmakers avid of profit. Collateral Damage doesn't make easier understand the affliction of terrorism only tries to mock of a third-world country. As always there's no movie so bad that should not be seen but it would be best for the health of cinema if pieces like this were not created anymore.