Eraser

directed by Chuck Russell starring James Caan, Vanessa Williams and Arnold Schwarzenegger at area theaters

Blockbusters these days are elaborately crafted efforts in giving the public what Hollywood thinks it wants--more of the same. "Eraser," in this sense, succeeds admirably, featuring the sure-fire combination of a pleasantly sinister premise, guns galore and the endearing former weight-lifter whose punchy one-liners have touched the hearts of millions. Unfortunately, although sure of the ingredients, the makers of "Eraser" dish up something relatively subpar.

After such abortive, rather eery attempts at career-broadening as "Junior," Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to his old habits, this time as "Eraser" Kruger, top agent for the witness protection program. Under his mentor in the agency (James Caan), Kruger efficiently "erases" the identity of errant stool-pigeons, until one day he finds out that, wouldn't you know it, someone has been killing the people he's helped disappear. Soon he's protecting one such potential witness/victim, Lee (Vanessa Williams), who knows a little too much about the machinations of a high-ranking U.S. government employee looking to sell top-secret Very Powerful Guns to terrorists.

So it's all there, right? The star, the premise, the gimmick (those guns fire the laser version of smart bombs), the no-brainer plot, even a glimpse of the bad-guys-of-the-moment, Russian criminals who have emerged, fire-toughened, from the ashes of the Soviet Union. The movie, as many have observed, even borrows the sure-fire elements of "Mission: Impossible": infiltration of a supposedly impregnable government sanctum, corrupt government execs etc.

But it's just not enough. Arnold has reached that difficult point in a superstar's career where every single movie must be original, blockbuster material, not "just another action movie." Eddie Murphy can be said to be recovering in "The Nutty Professor" from the superstar comic's equivalent of such a position. "Eraser" is good, perhaps even very good--but we want something amazing, something that will leave our brains fried and frazzled for days afterward, our eyeballs glowing.

Accordingly, "Eraser" features one or two memorable action sequences--the reptile house in the Central Park Zoo--but even those tend to the hackneyed (think exploding glass aquariums). The gimmick laser gun features advanced infrared sighting, but this, of course, is old hat to veterans of Arnold's "Predator" phase. Most shockingly, one of the stunts that helps identify the movie--Arnold's leaping out of an airplane and playing "follow that parachute"--features what looks like a very shoddy mixture of blue-screen work and frenzied, bumpy camera movement. Where welldone, innovative action sequences and stories marked earlier Arnold movies, new ones mistake audacity delivered almost tongue-in-cheek for real thrills. Yes, Arnold takes on an airplane one-on-one, but the situation is too implausible even for the most believing action fans.

What made "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" and "Predator" quirky and interesting was the presence of a character perhaps more invincible than Arnold himself. Here, Arnold busily spends his time getting impaled, bursting out of floors, and burning enough houses to make an insurance company weep.

Development of the appealing premise--the challenge of making someone invisible--is squandered in favor of a standard corrupt-government/secret-weapon story. In fact, the movie is often most interesting when we get a glimpse of the underground world Arnold has created, as he goes around collecting favors from the people he has helped disappear.

It is not surprising, then, that many of the highlights in the movie ironically come from the comedy provided by Robert Pastorelli as Johnny C., a witness Arnold has saved and who insists upon helping him out. Best-known for his role as Eldin or "that painter guy" on "Murphy Brown," Pastorelli plays the highly-principled ex-gangster Johnny C. with quality humor that is a far cry from the cutesy punch-lines of most action films. Calling upon hilarious motley trio of relatives and friends to help Arnie out, Pastorelli offers amusing false bravado as a welcome alternative to Arnold's superstar self-assuredness.

James Caan, as Kruger's mentor, ably reveals the cutthroat brutality that lies behind the merely serious face of top-secret government. Vanessa Williams, on the other hand, must play the thankless, Schwarzenegger equivalent of a "Bond girl," minus the glamour.

In short, the makers of "Eraser" have themselves done a bad job of erasing: instead of assuming a new, exciting action identity, Schwarzenegger returns to standard shoot-'em-up mode, which seems staler now than in earlier films. If you want a good action movie, sure, see "Eraser"; if you want vintage Arnold, better make a visit to your video store.