Before I express my more detailed thoughts about this film, I need to get something off my chest. I've read a lot of other user comments here about Basic and it's almost embarrassing! Half of the reviews here state that Basic is too confusing and hard to understand while the other half is so proud to say they managed to understand the movie. If you're a potential viewer, don't get scared off by these comments! Basic is not at all difficult to follow. If you have more or less an average IQ, you won't get confused for a minute
On a more personal note, I think Basic suffers from a modern disease. Nowadays directors have the urge to fool the audience so much, they go over the top without realizing it. They're trying to prevent their movie is predictable, so they add so many twists to the plot that it really becomes illogical. So
NO, the clue of Basic isn't predictable, but the entire movie becomes `structurally predictable'. Basically, this means that
as a viewer
you stop being involved, because you automatically think a few more illogical twists have yet to appear, so why bother? And besides, I don't know about you but I've seen enough movies about the `perfect crime and/or murder' recently. All these films about solid and waterproof conspiracies are shoved down our throats so much lately, that it really becomes annoying. So, I'd say: Watch Basic for the above average acting performances and the few decent action sequences! The solid directing by John McTiernan also deserves a mention, even though his `hard-action' stuff like Die Hard and Predator are a lot more effective. John Travolta and especially Samuel L. Jackson don't have to convince us about their quality anymore. And Pulp Fiction already taught us they play in team perfectly.
If you're expectations on Basic aren't set too high, you'll enjoy it. It's a routine, but well-made film
no more, no less
