Before he decided that he didn’t fancy the notion of making movies on a semi-regular basis, James Cameron used to release a new feature every couple of years, something at least two generations of audiences won’t understand. Prior to dedicating the rest of his existence to Titanic and then Avatar, the filmmaker went out with a bang as a prolific director with True Lies.
Without a doubt one of the best action blockbusters of not just the 1990s but all-time, Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers one of his best-ever performances as surreptitious secret agent Harry Tasker, with Jamie Lee Curtis on Golden Glone-winning form as meek housewife Helen, who eventually becomes a badass in her own right.
Thanks to its effervescent leads, Cameron’s on-point direction, a winning combination of cutting-edge CGI and practical effects, as well as a string of explosive set pieces, True Lies is truly one of the greats. In case you missed it, an episodic reboot starring Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga premieres tonight, and it’s getting slaughtered by critics.
There are plenty of action-heavy shows and espionage adventures on the small screen, so naming the latest True Lies and simply rehashing the concept was always going to place it under scrutiny. Based on the first wave of reactions, even the lowest of expectations have failed to be met. Luckily, just like the small screen Lethal Weapon, diehard fans of the original can simply go on with their lives and simply pretend that it doesn’t exist, which might be the best approach based on the consensus.