True Lies is often considered to be the last good/great Arnold Schwarzenegger action film. That is because Eraser it seems (at least to me before actually viewing the film), just did not see the amount of success that Arnold's previous action films achieved. Eraser was released in 1996 and had a troubled production where, if it was not for Schwarzenegger, this film would not have been released. The film was directed by Chuck Russell (The Mask, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Scorpion King) and stars (obviously) Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Total Recall, and Terminator 2: Judgment Day). The film was a box office hit but was not as well received as Arnold's previous films. But that is not to say that this film has it's fans as I have seen a following for this film.
John Kruger is a US Marshall and works as a person who helps protect witnesses. One particular assignment sees Kruger protecting a woman who has information on a company who are developing high tech weapons that are being sold to the wrong people. It is up to Kruger not only to protect the witness, but to make sure these weapons do not get into the wrong hands.
Let's be real here, Eraser is nowhere close to being Arnold's best. Yet, it is far from being his worst. Eraser, for me, was better than I was expecting for the most part. It reminds me of a Dolph Lundgren film released in 2001 called Hidden Agenda. Just imagine this film, hardly any action and fun, and no high tech weaponry. I was surprised that this film was pretty high tech with the whole "rail gun" being the main focus. I find it too high tech because if you take it out of the film, the film itself is pretty realistic (for an action movie at least). This high tech weapon takes out any sense of realism. Yet, the weapon itself is pretty unique. The weapon has it's own logical issues, but that is action movie logic for you (and don't take that as me defending it). The special effects are, let's say dated. Completely CG and not always convincing. Mostly used with the firing of the "rail gun weapon and a few of the bigger action scenes. Otherwise, I do not have a huge problem with it but considering that this is a point in film history that CG is being used and used fairly well, I would expect a little more from this film. Speaking of the action, the action here is fairly good. There are some scenes here that are just plain fun, something that should be present in any good Schwarzenegger action film. We get maybe one big action scene and the rest are fun little action scenes mostly consisting of shootouts and an explosion here and there. Aside from the action, the film has some good comedic moments and we get the usual Arnold one liners. Though when none of that is present on screen, the film feels pretty generic and that is the overall feel for this film. Arnold is still on his up and up in his role of John Kruger. Arnold does give us a good performance and plays the protector character fairly well. You feel safe when around this character. Vanessa Williams plays the woman being protected and she does fine as well and plays a female character capable of holding her own. The story overall takes a little bit to get interesting and when a nice twist is revealed, the film gets a little bit interesting. Again, the film does not do much by itself to be entirely interesting without the help of action and comedy. I should note that this film's cinematographer, did cinematography for Terminator 2: Judgment Day and it is very apparent and looks amazing here with the lighting and the ability to give us viewers a good view of the action taking place. Lastly, Alan Silvestri does a good job with the music here. It is nice to hear it in the background while the action is taking place.
Eraser, overall, is just an OK film, despite my apparent overwhelming praise. It does not surpass some of Arnold's finest but it is still worth a watch as it does have it's moments.
John Kruger is a US Marshall and works as a person who helps protect witnesses. One particular assignment sees Kruger protecting a woman who has information on a company who are developing high tech weapons that are being sold to the wrong people. It is up to Kruger not only to protect the witness, but to make sure these weapons do not get into the wrong hands.
Let's be real here, Eraser is nowhere close to being Arnold's best. Yet, it is far from being his worst. Eraser, for me, was better than I was expecting for the most part. It reminds me of a Dolph Lundgren film released in 2001 called Hidden Agenda. Just imagine this film, hardly any action and fun, and no high tech weaponry. I was surprised that this film was pretty high tech with the whole "rail gun" being the main focus. I find it too high tech because if you take it out of the film, the film itself is pretty realistic (for an action movie at least). This high tech weapon takes out any sense of realism. Yet, the weapon itself is pretty unique. The weapon has it's own logical issues, but that is action movie logic for you (and don't take that as me defending it). The special effects are, let's say dated. Completely CG and not always convincing. Mostly used with the firing of the "rail gun weapon and a few of the bigger action scenes. Otherwise, I do not have a huge problem with it but considering that this is a point in film history that CG is being used and used fairly well, I would expect a little more from this film. Speaking of the action, the action here is fairly good. There are some scenes here that are just plain fun, something that should be present in any good Schwarzenegger action film. We get maybe one big action scene and the rest are fun little action scenes mostly consisting of shootouts and an explosion here and there. Aside from the action, the film has some good comedic moments and we get the usual Arnold one liners. Though when none of that is present on screen, the film feels pretty generic and that is the overall feel for this film. Arnold is still on his up and up in his role of John Kruger. Arnold does give us a good performance and plays the protector character fairly well. You feel safe when around this character. Vanessa Williams plays the woman being protected and she does fine as well and plays a female character capable of holding her own. The story overall takes a little bit to get interesting and when a nice twist is revealed, the film gets a little bit interesting. Again, the film does not do much by itself to be entirely interesting without the help of action and comedy. I should note that this film's cinematographer, did cinematography for Terminator 2: Judgment Day and it is very apparent and looks amazing here with the lighting and the ability to give us viewers a good view of the action taking place. Lastly, Alan Silvestri does a good job with the music here. It is nice to hear it in the background while the action is taking place.
Eraser, overall, is just an OK film, despite my apparent overwhelming praise. It does not surpass some of Arnold's finest but it is still worth a watch as it does have it's moments.