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Ladder 49 (2004)

Rate: 3
Viewed: 2/25

Lad49
2/25: Ladder 49 is long and clichéd.

After it was over, I looked up online for cons of being a firefighter, and there were as follows: politics, too much time away from family, unable to forget the traumatic sights, cancer, incessant pranks/bullying, and sleep deprivation, among others. There were times I wondered if it was worth losing lives to save people in that piece-of-shit city called Baltimore.

The biggest mistake is giving a lot of attention to Jack Morrison's wife. I absolutely do not care about her. The director should've focused on the firefighting aspects. The more situations shown, the better. Instead, it's been "Hi, honey...how was your day?" and "No!!!!! Don't go!" As a result, my eyes have become glassy. Memo to Hollywood: get rid of Jacinda Barrett; she stinks at acting. Ditto for Joaquin Phoenix who's virtually the same every single time despite his ability to carry a movie.

Another is not aging anybody. Ten years pass, and everybody doesn't look any different compared to day one. At least, John Travolta, who's the only reason why I bothered with this crap film, gave the old college try by making his sideburns white. Speaking of time, people sure get married quickly after a random meeting at the supermarket, huh?

Oh, boy...so many mistakes. Where there's fire, there's always smoke...lots and lots of it, but Ladder 49 has made sure there's no such thing, especially inside buildings. Whenever a firefighter saves a person, he will have a second mask ready. What can possibly be accomplished from walking atop the roof? Why is Jack Morrison alone in the building that cost his life when he should be working in a team of 2's or more? Where is his mask anyway? Firefighters just don't deal with fires all the time; they attend to medical calls, automobile accidents, hazardous material spills, water rescues, natural disasters, and so on.

All in all, although illogical and ridiculous, Backdraft is better than Ladder 49.