The Hurt Locker Review
The Good:
1. The characters and acting were all really good.
2. The lack of politics. Thankfully, this movie is practically devoid of all politics, which is absolutely fan-FUCKING-tastic. War movies tend to get bogged down with the political or propaganda aspects.
For example, World War 2 movies have degraded to the point where it is all about "saving the world from evil Nazis." Viet Nam war movies suffer from the "anti-war" messages they get burdened with as well. Previous Iraq war movies tended to focus heavily on whether or not it was "right" to have invaded Iraq. Not so here. This movie is solely focused on the soldiers themselves, and that is how I like my war movies.
3. Everything looks VERY realistic and believable. It's very easy to believe you are watching the actual war in Iraq, in the actual locations. It looks like a documentary. Even the actions of the local Iraqi people are very realistic and believable. Watch "Ross Kemp in Afghanistan" and pay attention to the Afghan locals. They look and act EXACTLY like the Iraqi locals in this movie.
4. I really liked the ending. The scene with James in the supermarket is absolutely spot-on. In an unspoken way, it evokes the message that the general public worries about which highly sugared cereal to buy this week, when in reality, it doesn't fucking matter. Military life in general changes your whole outlook on life, and your perception of what really matters to you. The ending of the film reflects this in a poignant way.
5. There were several really well done suspenseful scenes in The Hurt Locker. On top of the ever-present threat of the explosives detonating, you also had to worry about the people looking on. Which ones are insurgents? Is there a sniper waiting to shoot you or the explosives? Is that guy with the cell phone about to detonate the bomb? Seriously, you can see why these guys can be so high-strung and lose their nerve.
The Bad:
NOTHING! The 2nd movie in a row where I cannot find anything really bad with the film. Nothing.
YAY!: I was really impressed to learn that a woman had directed one of my favorite war movies ever. +1 for that.
Final BS Rating: +6 THAT'S HOT SHIT! (to quote the Colonel from the movie) This is actually off the chart of my scale. I think this is the first time something has ever gone higher than the existing scale.
The Hurt Locker was an absolutely fantastic war movie. Reading some other "professional" reviews, I noticed that the only people who were giving the film negative reviews, were the people who have a major bug up their ass about the real-life Iraq war. (and also people who just generally despise war movies)
If you're looking for a movie that points fingers and vilifies George W. Bush, this isn't it. Alternatively, if you're looking for a film that glorifies the war, or Bush, this isn't it either.
I see this as a soldier's movie. A soldier goes to war, and in the end it doesn't matter what political situation got him there. He's simply there, and has to do his job no matter what. Sometimes, it's only the job that really matters.
