'The 6th Day' is not the end of the day for Arnie

The 6th Day (*** out of four stars)

Action/Thriller/Sci-Fi, 123 minutes

Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rappaport, Wendy

Crewson, Robert Duvall.

A Phoenix Pictures/Columbia Pictures Presentation

Contains action violence and some sensuality

JAKARTA (JP): Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in his latest movie only has to face a few evil scientists who clone him.

But in real life, Arnie has to face the majority of film critics who seem to have plotted a conspiracy to eliminate him from film screens for good by giving the movie bad reviews. Even before filming was completed, there were already many critics badmouthing the movie.

Sure, the actor has recently starred in a series of not-too- successful films, including the unfunny comedy Jingle All the Way, the unenjoyable, out of steam Batman & Robin and the messy and stupid End of Days. But he said he would be back, didn't he? Well, he is back. So everybody should give him a break.

The latest action film with the man who was born in a small town in Austria almost 54 years ago is a well-crafted, entertaining work which is also unexpectedly thought-provoking.

Imagine that in the not-too-distant future, cloning technology is so advanced that scientists are able to clone dead pets so your kids will not be sad if their much-loved dog dies. You can even ask the cloning company to match the cloned animals' fur color with your furniture. Imagine that the technology is so advanced that the scientists' urge to clone human beings is inevitable. When someone is dying, he or she can have themselves cloned into a person with the same memory and behavior so when the person eventually dies, he or she will be able live again in the form of their clone.

But the question is, will you let yourself be cloned and are you and your clone the same person and not just a biotechnical zombie? And if you believe in God, don't you think that you are interfering with His will if you do allow yourself to be cloned?

Well, Adam Gibson (Schwarzenegger), an old-fashioned family man with a loving wife and a daughter, does not believe in cloning. He believes that life is not supposed to be interfered with.

Thanks to the government, it is strictly forbidden to clone human beings under The 6th Day Law which refers to the biblical passage "and God created man on the sixth day".

Anyone who violates the law can be sentenced to up to 40 years in jail.

However, when Adam returns home one day, he finds that there is another man who in every way resembles himself. He eventually finds out that he has been cloned by Replacement Technologies, a company run by Michael Drucker (Goldwyn), one of the richest men in the world, and a highly respectable scientist Griffin Weir (Duvall).

The company picked the wrong man to clone since Adam, a highly decorated fighter pilot, is determined to get his life back.

Drucker, on the other hand, realizes that Adam can report the company for violating the law so he sends out two sadistic killers, one of them female, to hunt Adam down.

Adam succeeds in killing the two but has to do it more than once because once they die, the company will clone them for another task to eliminate Adam.

Under the direction of Spottiswoode, who directed Tomorrow Never Dies, the film is an enjoyable ride from start to finish. Yes, it is not in the same league as the great "Terminator" films or Paul Verhoeven's Total Recall, but not far from those pictures either.

The film has some of those ugly but fun scenes like in Total Recall and fast, gripping action sequences. Even though there is still a considerable amount of violence in this film, The 6th Day is not one of those gun-toting action films.

And thankfully it is not pretentious like the best-forgotten End of Days. The former Mr. Olympia is not out to save the world this time -- he just tries to reclaim his identity and to stay alive.

The rest of the cast fits well in the film, particularly Goldwyn as the ambitious scientist.

Despite its futuristic setting, The 6th Day is actually an old-fashioned action film. It does not have those high-kicking fighting scenes which can be found in Charlie's Angels or The Matrix.

Although there is no techno-rock soundtrack to accompany the action scenes, The 6th Day still knows how to entertain.

The film also successfully displays Arnie's charm.

If there is one thing which make Schwarzenegger able to remain a respected film star even with his thick accent, and not just drift away like some action stars (hello Dolph Lundgren), it is his intellect. (On the academic side he graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Superior with a major in international marketing of fitness and business administration).

Although married to American TV anchor Maria Shriver from the Kennedy clan, Arnie is a committed supporter of the Republican Party. Who knows, one day when his film career is forced to an end, he may run for the Oval Office. But rest assured that day seems still far away because you are still our screen hero, Arnie! (Joko E.H. Anwar)