A HERO WHO ISN’T AFRAID TO PLAY DIRTY
Your parents no doubt taught you the difference between a white lie and a regular lie. Well, any time John Matrix lies, it’s a white lie. Case in point with this scene. Instead of killing Sully last like he had said earlier, Matrix kills him second (out of about 132, give or take a few). This is an important motif in all good action movies: just because the hero says something earlier doesn’t mean he has to do it later. That makes things unpredictable, which keeps your audience on edge. Also, killing an antagonist without remorse is perfectly acceptable as long as you have the antagonist offer an unwanted handjob to the leading lady a few scenes prior. I say, “Good riddance” to Sully and I know you will too. In my book, that’s just one less dirtbag trolling the streets for handjobs.
Sometimes your hero has to be a bit duplicitous if it’s going to serve the greater good. Had Matrix let Sully live, he no doubt would have come back to the airport to ask Cindy out on a date, and she really didn’t need to be bothered. The life of a flight attendant is too hectic to be bothered by henchmen. You already have horny business travelers hitting the in-flight help button every minute to ask for “something!” (Especially if you look as ravishing as Rae Dawn Chong!)
SETTING UP THE STAKES
In this scene, we set up the bond between father and daughter by showing that John is in touch with his daughter, Jenny’s lifestyle. He uses his knowledge of what’s tops on “pop culture street” in order to develop a playful rapport with Jenny over sandwiches. It’s here that Matrix’s verbal wit shows its face for the first time, as he wryly asks Jenny about pop idol Boy George, “Why don’t they just call him Girl George?” This is something Arnold came up with on set, and it was such a perfect adjustment. It really won over the studio, who had originally given me notes to “not have Arnold speak” in the film.
"War-riors.... come out a plaaa-aayy"
(switching gears, but still related... who gets it?)