Possessed of powers just shy of Superman’s, he’s the sort of fellow who, held at gunpoint aboard a private jet by several renegade Feds, disarms them all, cripples the plane by hurling objects into the jet engine while dangling one-armed from the open door, tosses a parachute packet into the skies, then free-falls after it himself, defying the laws of gravity as he catches up with the chute, straps it on in midair, where he becomes a sitting duck for the jet zooming to smash Arnold like a fly against its windowpane.
That sequence alone may turn ““Eraser’’ into a hit, but anyone expecting an Arnold action flick on the level of the ““Terminator’’ movies or ““True Lies’’ won’t find it here. Director Charles (““The Mask’’) Russell is no James Cameron. He can produce a requisite amount of suspense and mayhem (he seems especially fond of impaled flesh; the oft-punctured star may pick up new fans from piercing enthusiasts), but his filmmaking is strictly B-movie generic. Just compare Russell’s staging of the inevitable accessing-the-computer’s-secret-file scene (which is to this generation of Hollywood movies what the bank heist used to be) with Brian DePalma’s finesse in ““Mission: Impossible.’’ It’s cinematic child’s play.
The same could be said for the largely preposterous story and dialogue-impaired screenplay, credited to Tony Puryear, Walon Green and Michael S. Chernuchin (though at least four other writers contributed). Arnold’s job is to protect a witness (Vanessa Williams) who plans to testify against her employers, the traitorous Cybez Corp., which is selling its advanced weapons to international terrorists. Unfortunately for the witness, Cybez has powerful partners within the military, the FBI and the CIA, all of whom are determined to eradicate her before she spills the beans. The team of writers has obviously been instructed not to worry their heads about plausibility as long as the corpses pile up at a rapid clip and Arnold gets a few quotable one-liners after dispatching his victims. Best example, to a blown-away crocodile that has just tried to make a snack out of our hero: ““You’re luggage.''
Williams may not be ready for a Jane Austen movie, but she dashes through her assignment with a vivacious athleticism that’s fun to watch, and a funny Robert Pastorelli perks things up as a wiseguy Arnold once saved who now gets to help him in the final showdown. There are enough amusing bits to keep ““Eraser’s’’ batteries charged. On its own popcorn terms, this workmanlike thriller gets the job done.
