Heroes for today

So, you wanna be a hero? Grab a slogan - any catchy one will do - bring some explosives for good effect, and go kill some people. At least that's the way it seems to work according to the Hollywood execs who are responsible for pitting two epic battles against each other this week in the box office. This Friday sees the release of Exit Wounds, depicting a battle between good and evil involving corrupt cops and drug money. Here, the slogan is "This is gonna hurt." How decidedly masculine. Exit Wounds will compete for an audience with Enemy at the Gates, depicting several different battles at the same time and on multiple intellectual levels. Here, the slogan is, "Some men were born to be heroes." How... well, we don't want to be too cynical in the first paragraph.

So we'll just start a new one and get right on with the previews. All in all, it's quite a week for one's hubris. If you're feeling a little full of yourself and you think you might want to start a fight, head to the theaters instead of the streets for a little vicarious violence. You'd never be able to kick ass like Steven Seagal in reality, anyway.

Exit Wounds

Directed by: Andrzei Bartkowaik

Starring: Steven Seagal, DMX

If you cast Steven Seagal as a police detective, you've already established the character as a renegade hero. After his unorthodox ways (would you expect anything different?) result in his demotion to an inner-city precinct, he teams up with hip-hop star DMX to attack corruption and conspiracy that reach as deep into the precinct as they do into the streets. With DMX's character Latrell Walker's unlimited money and shady connections, you can expect Exit Wounds to have more than a few things in common with a rap video: fast cars, flashy moves, and firearms.

Director Andrzei Bartkowaik's beginnings shooting commercials will add to the fast pace of the film, and his experience with independent films should add a fresh, artistic element to the often-stale crooked cop story. Expect something visually similar to his feature film debut, Romeo Must Die, mixed in with a little Lethal Weapon to ensure box office success. Interestingly enough, DMX's limited experience on screen does include a role as Silk in Bartkowaik's Romeo, so the two must share a certain chemistry to work together again. It should be worth seeing, however, just to find out how they manage to respectably fit Tom Arnold into the film.

Enemy at the Gates

Directed by: Jean-Jacques Annaud

Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Ed Harris

The trailer for Enemy at the Gates tosses around words like "hero" and "destiny" to such an extent that you're not sure if this is going to be a war movie or a Greek tragedy. Perhaps that's the point. "A conflict between two nations became a battle between two men." Isn't that always the way? Since the days of The Hunt for Red October and even Schindler's List, fiction and non-fiction alike rely on history or other actual events for plot while inflating characters to the point that one man can represent the ideals of an entire nation.

In Enemy at the Gates, Joseph Fiennes plays Danilov, the Soviet political officer who creates celebrated sniper Vassily Zaitsev's (Jude Law) into a national hero. The plot ("based on a true story") thickens when both men fall in love with the same woman, played by Rachel Weisz, and Danilov begins to regret transforming Vassily into the adversary he has become. Enter Ed Harris as Major Koenig, the Nazi's best sharpshooter, who is ordered to kill Vassily. Set behind the blood bath of Stalingrad, the story focuses on these two men as they stalk each other, battle personal demons, and wage their own war in solitude, yadda yadda yadda.

If you like books about war, you'll be attracted by the plot. However, the addition of French director Jean-Jacques Annaud (Seven Years in Tibet) promises to provide ample visual stimulation for the artistic fans. Using filming techniques similar to those seen in Saving Private Ryan, Annaud shows the violence of war without getting gruesome enough to turn you from your movie snacks. And speaking of visual stimulation, Fiennes, Law, and Harris aren't so bad, either.