The eponymous protagonist of Ghost Soldier is the human subject of an ultra-top-secret program, sponsored by both the military and the government that operates it, and also, as one character portends, an old-school Green Beret. Put those things together, and one gets a pretty fearsome presence if one gives him an opportunity to become fueled by revenge on behalf of the innocent being preyed upon by a form of tyranny. It’s just a shame that director William Eubank’s movie represents the stupidest possible way to incorporate a character like this into an action movie that ostensibly wants to be about the man, known only as “Fitz,” putting his particular set of skills to use.
There is a difference, after all, between a hero who proves himself capable and an impervious personification of unfazed stoicism wielding a gun, a knife, a bow-and-arrow and an arsenal of weapons and gadgets that do half—or more—of his work for him. These are some cool gadgets, to give the movie tiny bit of credit, ranging from ammunition that splits apart in the air and knocks henchmen backward at least 20 feet to a literal cloak of invisibility that works about as well as that other one (from the popular fantasy-book series). The hero is essentially here to use them once—maybe twice, if we’re lucky—and then pull out some other gadget, and it all gives him an unfair advantage over every conceivable threat.
The character is also played by Jim Caviezel, whose entire thing is to speak softly while carrying these big sticks, which means that it comes as no surprise—even though it is patently ludicrous—when Fitz does all this, only to arrive at the final confrontation with the main heavy and choose a knife fight above all else. Caviezel is commanding enough in his quiescence, one supposes, but Fitz is a bore. There’s no other way to describe a guy with every resource at his disposal, no reason to fear the other side of this conflict on account of those resources, and a past that’s so heavily cloaked in mystery that even screenwriter Chad Papasadero seems reluctant to dig any deeper than what’s on the surface (he likes to quote the prayer to Michael, the patron saint of soldiers, as a talisman but only uses that once, too).
To these filmmakers, it’s enough to give Fitz a righteously angering reason to become the vengeful spirit on behalf of an already grieving family left in a tight spot as a result of some downright illegal maneuvering by a corporate entity to stretch the law to its very boundaries. The premise here has Fitz as one of a handful of property owners being squeezed out by a major international concern (it’s called Brownstone, in case it didn’t already sound vaguely familiar). The company is about to launch a plan to open some data centers in a rural part of Wyoming where eminent domain is about a month from kicking in, and we get to see just how serious they are about closing that deal over the course of this story.
The other stragglers are the Hernandez family, including a recently widowed mother (played by Jaina Lee Ortiz), her son (played by Cameron Gayden), and the current patriarch (played by Carlos Gómez), who are given some stern ultimatums before the head of security (played by Garret Dillahunt, reliably snide as always) just storms their property with a cadre of men. They don’t realize that Fitz’s property is, well, something else entirely, nor do they count on his skills, his anger, or his many, many gadgets and guns. They certainly don’t expect him to follow them back to their base of operations—aided by his government handler (played by Shea Whigham) and a local Sheriff (played by Olivia Thirlby)—where a premature celebration of the data-center deal is under way.
It all comes to a head in time for a finale of overwhelming chaos and bombast, featuring a couple of neat moments in the midst of a lot of absolute nonsense (a bit involving a perfectly timed engagement of two grenades is undone by some pretty bad visual effects and a massive logistical question mark, and maybe we shouldn’t bring up the explosive wiring that wraps its victims in electrical fire). It certainly isn’t enough for Ghost Soldier that the target of thematic ire is the groundbreaking on a couple of data centers, because it’s dead-on-arrival as a competent actioner everywhere else—from its nothing hero on down to its thoroughly uninspired set pieces.
Rating: * (out of ****)
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