Saturday, February 20, 2016

The Hurt Locker

Year: 2008
Genre: War drama
Director: Kathryn Bigelow


Plot: A film about an army bomb squad stationed in Iraq in 2004.


The gist: Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar winning war film was marketed as a war action movie, but Black Hawk Down this is not.

While The Hurt Locker has its fair share of tense moments, it isn't a high octane action flick you'd be led to believe. The story focuses on a bomb squad stationed in Baghdad in 2004, who has just lost their leader in an explosion. His replacement, Sgt. James, is a daredevil type guy who doesn't play by the book, much to the chagrin of his partner Sgt. Sanborn.

The film presents the three-man squad's experiences in handling situations involving all kinds of bombs, and how it affects them personally. 


The good: Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie are solid in their respective roles as James and Sanborn. Renner is convincing enough as the devil-may-care type while Mackie shines as the regular Joe who just wants to make it home in one piece. Kudos goes to Bigelow for successfully creating tension whenever a bomb is in the picture.

The bad: A few things either don't add up or seem unnecessary. For instance, how is it that James and Sanborn have sniper skills if they're in bomb defusing? And why create the subplot about James' friendship with an Iraqi boy that ultimately leads nowhere? But more importantly, the film doesn't have a proper focal point as most war films do, thereby making this film drag whenever it strays away from bomb situations.


Verdict: The Hurt Locker is a solid drama with plenty of tension. It's watchable but certainly not the best of its genre. (7/10)

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