MOVIE REVIEW : Gulf War Backdrop for ‘Human Shield’

“The Human Shield,” a lively if improbable action-adventure set against the Persian Gulf War, actually commences five years before Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. An American Marine instructor (Michael Dudikoff), witnessing in horror the slaughter of a Kurdish village, lunges at an Iraqi colonel (Steve Inwood), scarring Inwood’s face with his knife. Move ahead to the outbreak of war, and Dudikoff’s brother (Tommy Hinkley), a teacher in Iraq, is not allowed to leave the country with his wife and child and has been taken hostage by Inwood, now a general. Instantly, Dudikoff, although banished from Iraq, sets out from America on a one-man rescue mission.

The problem here is not so much the escalating improbability of Dudikoff’s exploits as he pursues his mission, but that much of the dialogue is elementary and the people one-dimensional. The virile Inwood is so thoroughly the villain of the deepest dye that you expect him to twirl his mustache, and the American brothers would come off as merely bland had not director Ted Post been able to suggest that both are stunningly naive as only Americans can be. Best-drawn is the general’s wife (Hana Azoulay-Hasfari), a dedicated physician who was once Dudikoff’s lover.

Although the reliable Post hasn’t nearly as substantial a script to work with as he did in his classic Vietnam film, “Go Tell the Spartans,” he gives “The Human Shield” (selected theaters) his best, maintaining the swift pacing necessary to keep us from questioning the credibility of Dudikoff’s heroics and also suggesting that not all Iraqis are as evil as Inwood’s general, to whom “revenge is sacred, hatred is noble”--according to his own wife.

Shot in Israel, “The Human Shield” (rated R for violence) is technically adroit in all aspects, with notably handsome cinematography and a vibrant score. Action fans shouldn’t be disappointed.

‘The Human Shield’

Michael Dudikoff: Doug Matthews

Hana Azoulay-Hasfari: Lila Haddilh

Steve Inwood General: Ali Dallai

Tommy Hinkley: Ben Matthews

A Cannon Pictures presentation. Director Ted Post. Producers Christopher Pearce, Elie Cohn. Screenplay Mann Rubin; from a story by Mike Werb and Rubin. Cinematographer Yossi Wein. Editors Daniel Cahn, Matthew Booth. Costumes Rakefet Levy. Music Stephen Barber. Production design Itzik Albalak. Art director Yehuda Ako. Sound Eli Yarkoni. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.

MPAA-rated R (for violence).