Collateral Damage
Directed by Andrew Davis
- action
- thriller
- drama
The story
Firefighter Gordon Brewer is plunged into the complex and dangerous world of international terrorism after he loses his wife and child in a bombing credited to Claudio 'The Wolf' Perrini.
What it’s like
Gritty, saturated action in daylight and dusk: sun-bleached Los Angeles streets, smoky firehouse interiors lit by sodium lamps and red emergency glare, and the dim, cramped sets of Colombian jungle and Bogotá hideouts rendered in murky greens and tungsten browns. The camera is mostly conventional and kinetic, with handheld jolts during chases and long, steady framing for the quieter grief scenes, and the explosions are big, orange, practical-feeling fireballs. James Newton Howard's score swells with brassy, driving pulses in the set pieces and falls back to sparse, mournful strings when the protagonist is alone with his loss. The vibe is grim, pulpy and determined, a late-night action watch with an undertow of bereavement. Pacing is steady and workmanlike, building toward a long, relentless final act. The arc follows a grieving, rule-bound man who turns into a single-minded avenger, and the emotional register stays heavy throughout. Intensity is high: frequent gunfire and hand-to-hand fights, brutal and bloody in places, with death of a child and a parent's grief handled directly, and a fiery bombing opening the film. It suits viewers who want a revenge thriller with spectacle and a hard, bruised emotional core, not a gentle night in.
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