Basic

John McTiernan, though never exactly a critics’ darling, could once be counted on to crank out far more enjoyable high-octane action thrillrides than contemporaries like Simpson and Bruckheimer, as evidenced by such triumphs as Die Hard. His career trajectory has, however, nosedived sharply since an atrocious ’90s output disfigured by such unredeemed disasters as The Thirteenth Warrior, and in spite of the promise that might seem to be offered by the presence of Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta on the cast list, Basic does nothing to herald a return to form.

Far too convoluted for its own good, this military whodunnit’s overheated plot consists of so many daft twists and turns, the film rapidly ceases to make any sense. Jackson plays a maniacal armed-forces drill sergeant prone to brutalising his charges, whose mysterious disappearance in Panama comes under investigation from Travolta’s DEA agent and his partner (Gladiator’s Connie Nielsen). Said investigation requires the team to unravel the endlessly tedious saga of what exactly went down during their training stint in the jungle, and somehow manages to be twice as dull as it sounds.

While both Jackson and Travolta are watchable enough, as always, they’re onto a sure-fire loser here: neither is noted for being too fussy about appearing in heaps of shit like Basic, and it’s fair to say their post-Pulp Fiction credibility has somehow sustained them through many a turkey since. Jackson has a blast with the drill sergeant role, but Travolta’s performance relies excessively on his trademark charm-offensive nod, wink and smile, and Nielsen is such an unmemorable presence as to be wasteful of the space.

Basic is a torpid, entertainment-free void from start to finish.