"Collateral Damage" is a movie that was supposed to have opened back in October 2001 but was postponed because of 9/11. The reason was obvious: this film has to do with terrorists and terrorism, and it was a wise decision to move its release date back. Nobody wanted to see a movie with terrorist themes so soon after the tragedy of 9/11 hit so close to home. But remember, "Collateral Damage" was completed long before 9/11. I'm guessing we will not be seeing another movie about terrorism for a while. But I went to see "Collateral Damage" trying not to think about the real life attacks that we all witnessed. I was able to put that behind me for the duration of the film, and therefore I found the movie to be a pretty good action picture. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as a Los Angeles fireman who witnesses his wife and son killed by a bomb explosion set off by a Colombian terrorist. Schwarzenegger decides to take matters into his own hands to avenge the loss of his loved ones by going down to Colombia and track down this hideous bad guy. "Collateral Damage" has not fared well at the box office and in a way I can see why. We're coming up on the six month anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and some people refuse to see a movie about terrorism. That's very understandable, especially for those who lost loved ones on September 11. I don't know if this film would have fared better if it had been released before 9/11. We'll never know. But on the basis of what I saw while watching "Collateral Damage", I think it's a well made action movie. Schwarzenegger is good too. I felt sympathy for his character. And director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive") keeps the flow of the action going not allowing the film to get boring. "Collateral Damage" is not the best film of Schwarzenegger's career, but I still found it to be a good movie.
*** (out of four)
*** (out of four)