Review: True Lies Is A True Classic
- Aug 23, 2017
- 2 min read
The third film in the highly successful James Cameron/Arnold Schwarzenegger team up, the two prior films being the first two Terminators, True Lies is something of a parody of action films while being a solid action film at the same time. Modern action comedies should start taking notes.
Harry Tasker (Schwarzenegger) is a one man army. Surveillance, anti-terrorism, subterfuge, you name it, he's done it. But when high profile terrorist Salim Aziz (Art Malik) steals several nuclear weapons and he start's suspecting his wife Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis) is cheating on him, Tasker must juggle family life and work life, resulting in a purely explosive film.
True Lies is so Arnold that it would be easy to assume that it's a serious movie. But it's about the point that Charlton Heston appears on screen, sporting an eye patch no less, quickly followed by a horse vs motorbike chase scene and what is maybe the greatest Bill Paxton performance ever but to screen, that most people realise that the movie isn't being serious, and you shouldn't be taking it that way.
There's some great stunts, top notch action and top tier Arnold. Jet fighters, espionage, did I mention the horse vs motorbike, because Arnold rides a horse while in pursuit of a guy on a motorbike, seriously, only in the 90's could happen. It's also comedic excellence. It may come as a surprise but Schwarzenegger is a solid funny man. Twins, Kindergarten Cop and this go to show he can bring the laughs, provided he has the script to go with it (see Junior to understand how this can go horribly wrong).
If Commando is top 80's Arnold, True Lies is it's 90's equivalent. It's explosive, over the top and a goddamn masterpiece. It can't be put into words just how much fun this movie is. There's a chase between a horse...and a motorbike, through a shopping centre, across multiple levels. It's so good and you should watch it now.
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