Subject: Review: Soldier (1998)

From: James Sanford <[email-masked]>
Date: 9 Nov 1998 05:39:12 GMT

Every star has their good and bad moments, but few can match the
rollercoaster ride that Kurt Russell's career has been on during the past 10
years. When he's hot ("Overboard," "Executive Decision"), look out; when
he's not ("Captain Ron," "Escape From L.A."), duck and cover.
 Russell must have been laughing all the way to the bank after netting
multiple millions for "Soldier," a science-fiction tale as generic as its
title, which requires him to deliver a total of perhaps 12 words -- and
considerably fewer facial expressions -- in between running around and
gunning down countless extras. But viewers may be excused if they find it's
more fun to play shoot-'em-up yourself than to watch others do it,
particularly in a movie as alarmingly shoddy and poorly written as
"Soldier."
 In several eerie ways "Soldier" echoes "The Postman," the collossal Kevin
Costner turkey the kind people at Warner Bros. dumped in cinemas last
Christmas, and anyone who feels any nostalgia for that excruciating opus
should be in a mental-health clinic rather than a movie theater. Once again,
we're treated to that hoary old tale about the lone renegade -- in this case
a genetically engineered fighting machine known as Sgt. Todd (Russell) --
who sticks up for the poor, peace-lovin' folk when their frontier settlement
is attacked by the forces of evil.
 Imaginatively, screenwriter David Webb Peoples dresses the villianous
militants in pseudo-Nazi attire, which definitely sets them apart from the
heroes, most of whom are clad in jumble-sale rags. But while the mellow
residents of the Arcadia 234 Waste Disposal Area can't seem to find a decent
clothing store, they obviously have some sort of state-of-the-art hair salon
nearby since a large percentage of the population seems to sport frosted
tips, two-tone dye jobs and carefully crinkled tresses. All Sgt. Todd sports
is a crew cut, multiple scars and an unwavering scowl, although back in the
days of the War of the Six Cities he used to coat his face in patriotic red,
white and blue greasepaint.
 If all this talk about the movie's fashion sense seems beside the point,
you should understand it's by far the most fascinating aspect of "Soldier,"
which throws buckets of blood around in an attempt to perk up a deadwood
plot. Director Paul Anderson never met a cliche he couldn't appropriate, so
the film also includes numerous scenes of bodies hurtling through the air in
slow-motion, several instances of people scurrying away from fireballs and a
handful of moments in which shadowy characters are illuminated by flashes of
lightning.
 At least "Soldier" might have had the courtesy to whip up some snazzy
visuals, but the none-too-special-effects on view here look like they were
taken from some Saturday morning kids' show; they're laughably cheap. As in
"The Postman," there's a busty babe and some lovable moppets on hand to put
our unemotional hero back in touch with his heart, so we can sit through a
sequence in which Sgt. Todd weeps -- in slow-motion, naturally. Anyone who
pays good money to sit through "Soldier" will feel like joining in the pity
party.
James Sanford