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Mention the name James Cameron during a conversation and one will immediately evoke thoughts of The Terminator, Terminator 2, Aliens, The Abyss, Titanic, Avatar and True Lies. That's one hell of an impressive run of movies. Over the course of his career, James Cameron (with his infamous trait of perfectionism) has single-handedly created some of the greatest action and science fiction movies of recent times, and 1994's True Lies is without doubt one of the greatest actioners to emerge from Hollywood during the 1990s. In addition to this being a James Cameron film, it's an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, and their respective styles work extremely well together.
When speculation was rampant in the early '90s about who the new James Bond should be, Arnold Schwarzenegger was considered to be one of the long shots. Pierce Brosnan eventually got the gig instead of Arnold, but those of you wanting to see how Arnold would've fared as Bond should look no further than True Lies, as the Austrian Oak portrays a very Bond-esque secret agent. With tongue firmly in cheek, the film commences with a Goldfinger parody as Schwarzenegger's character of Harry Tasker swims up to an elegant mansion to infiltrate a high-class party. When he dumps his wet suit, it's revealed that Harry is wearing a full tuxedo underneath. Very Bond.
Harry Tasker is a secret agent living a double life. At home with his wife Helen (Curtis) and daughter Dana (Dushku), he's a loving, meek husband and father. Harry's family has no clue about his actual line of work, since they believe his cover story of being a dull sales representative for a computer company. The main narrative thread concerns Harry's latest mission: he's on the trail of the leader of a dangerous Middle-Eastern terrorist syndicate who have acquired nuclear warheads with plans to blow up Miami (yes, but can they dance?). This, however, is perceived as a secondary problem to Harry because he's convinced that his long-neglected wife is having an affair.
A Hollywood remake of the 1991 French film La Totale (though an uncredited remake), True Lies is essentially a fast-moving satire of every action-adventure movie in history (most significantly taking cues from James Bond). Interestingly, Schwarzenegger was the one who convinced James Cameron to commandeer this movie. Once Arnie learned that a remake of La Totale had been sanctioned, he wanted the lead role. When he passed the script onto James Cameron, Arnold said he wanted to do the film because he found the protagonist to be interesting. Cameron was shocked, because it was very rare for Schwarzenegger to pick a script based on his interest in a character. Once Cameron entered the equation, he fired the original screenwriters and went about re-writing the script himself. Remember, this is the same guy who carries out his directorial duties while wearing a hat that reads "Head Motherfucker In Charge".
Cameron may spend more money than any other filmmaker (True Lies costed in excess of $100 million), but nobody delivers more bang for your buck. The director's action sequences are gargantuan objects of beauty handled with a phenomenal dexterity that's rarely seen. In addition to the utilisation of mind-blowing CGI for this movie (the special effects are practically seamless), a large portion of the action was pulled off with practical effects and stuntmen. The results are spectacular. True Lies may require a suspension of disbelief, but it's not difficult to overlook logic for the sake of sheer entertainment. Added to this, while True Lies reaffirmed Cameron's ability to keep viewers on the edge of their seats, the film also showed he was capable of making an audience laugh. One of the best things about True Lies is that it's utterly hilarious, with hysterical one-liners and a number of comedic situations. In comparison to the James Bond franchise, True Lies is far funnier. It's more violent, too, as this is an R-rated action film as opposed to a tame PG Bond flick.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is in top form here as Harry Tasker. Arnie has always possessed a gift for comedy, and True Lies provided ample opportunities for the star to put this gift to good use. It is a tribute to Schwarzenegger's burgeoning maturity as an actor that he pulled off one of his best and most appealing performances in this film without being shirtless at any point. Alongside Ah-nold, Jamie Lee Curtis is terrific as Helen. One particular exchange between Arnie and Curtis sums up the tone of the film quite well: when she finds out his identity as a spy, she asks if he's ever killed anyone, and Arnie replies "Yeah but they were all bad". Other highlights of the film include a wonderful comic turn by Tom Arnold as Schwarzenegger's right-hand man, in addition to Tia Carrere as a sexy femme fatale, the side-splitting Bill Paxton as a car salesman, Art Malik as an effective villain, and Charlton Heston who clearly had fun playing the one-eyed head spy honcho.
Granted, True Lies is too long at almost 140 minutes, and the relationship between Harry and Helen drags from time to time. Sure, the film is over-the-top and ridiculous as well. But I can live with that, because this is also a funny, action-packed blockbuster that's easy to recommend. It's Arnie's best work outside of being a prop for Cameron's Terminator movies.
8.8/10
