The Hurt Locker, 2009 - Movie Review

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce, Evangeline Lilly

This brilliant review is by Richard Bodsworth

It has been almost 18 years since Kathryn Bigelow brought us the 100% adrenaline thrill ride that was Point Break, and after a 7 year hiatus following K-19: The Widowmaker she is back with Iraq war set, THE HURT LOCKER.

Jeremy Renner stars as the maverick leader of the U.S Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit, charged with the dangerous job of defusing bombs in the unpredictable war zone that is modern day Iraq. Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty play the other key members of the EOD, struggling to adapt to their leaders gung-ho attitude in an environment where it could all go wrong in a split second.

Hollywood war movies these days usually focus on the dangerous nature of the job, an Action Man figure, scar and all, overcoming ridiculous odds to defeat a stereotypical villain in emphatic fashion, accompanied with emphatic explosions and gore. Bigelow manages to turn this on its head and present us with a gripping, psychological character study into the minds of the men on the front line. But that is not to say the film is void of any action, the opposite in fact. Bigelow directs the many set pieces with outstanding flair and tension without the use of an instrumental score and it works to perfection. Filmed handheld style, this usually unnecessary and overused technique is perfect for the harsh unpredictable terrain of the war zone. This style, accompanied by the authenticity of Mark Boal’s script, you almost get the feeling you are there, perspiring, as Renner attempts to diffuse a rogue device. Even with several disposal scenes, they manage to seem original and fresh and sometimes bloody terrifying. A brilliant example of tension is a silent standoff, peppered only occasionally with the sound of a sniper rifle. Renner directs Mackie's aim to the enemy as they remain under fire themselves. Another one of my favourite scenes is as Renner attempts to disarm a car bomb, Mackie and Geraghty scour the surrounding buildings panicking over possible conspirators watching on. Here Bigelow teaches a master class in building tension without the need of an instrumental score to bump it up. The enemy here are the actual devices themselves as we very rarely see an actual living enemy attack, this makes it all the more terrifying and is a nice twist for the genre.

The cast themselves are perfect. Renner excels in the lead role, stepping out of his usual supporting roles in the likes of SWAT and 28 Weeks Later. His performance as adrenaline junkie, William James, goes much deeper than normal as we are revealed to deeper problems in his psyche. His scenes with a local Iraqi child and the films final ten minutes or so would usually be omitted from you usual fare, but work so well to build an understanding of a fragile soldier under pressure. Geraghty is also well cast as the nervous member of the group, continuing to build on his indie status and Mackie once again shows he has what it takes to be a great actor. Following on from his standout turn in Half Nelson, he makes the most of a character who could have most easily developed into the stereotypical ‘angry black man’ .

I felt the film could have trimmed a slither of fat from the middle, and I was also left confused by the cameo roles of Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes. These however are only minor gripes in a almost flawless film.

Time and time again Kathryn Bigelow has taken the Hollywood big boys on at their own game, and she succeeds once again. You have to wonder what she has been up to in the past 7 years and what the future holds. For me the film drew comparisons with TV mini series Generation Kill, showing the army as human beings rather than sensationalised heroes. However of all films set during any Middle East conflict, The Hurt Locker is one of, if not the best depiction. It was a great film to start my film festival run, and it will be very hard to beat.

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Hurt Locker - New Photos for Kathryn Bigelow's latest film

The Hurt Locker is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the military’s unrecognized heroes: the technicians of a bomb squad who volunteer to challenge the odds and save lives doing one of the world’s most dangerous jobs. Three members of the Army’s elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad battle insurgents and one another as they search for and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad—in order to try and make the city a safer place for Iraqis and Americans alike. Their mission is clear—protect and save—but it’s anything but easy, as the margin of error when defusing a war-zone bomb is zero. This thrilling and heart-pounding look at the psychology of bomb technicians and the effects of risk and danger on the human psyche is based on the first-hand observations of journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal, who was embedded with a special bomb unit in Iraq. These elite military men spoke of explosions as sending you to “the hurt locker.”

Acclaimed director Kathryn Bigelow brings together groundbreaking realistic action and intimate human drama in a landmark film starring Jeremy Renner (Dahmer , The Assassination of Jesse James ), Anthony Mackie (Half Nelson , We Are Marshall) and Brian Geraghty (We Are Marshall , Jarhead), with cameo appearances by Ralph Fiennes (The Reader), David Morse (“John Adams”), Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”) and Guy Pearce (Memento). The Hurt Locker is produced by Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Greg Shapiro and Nicolas Chartier. The screenplay is written by Mark Boal (In the Valley of Elah) . Barry Ackroyd, BSC (United 93, The Wind That Shakes the Barley) is director of photography. Production designer is Karl Juliusson ( K19: The Widowmaker, Breaking the Waves ). Editors are Bob Murawski (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3) and Chris Innis. Costume designer is George Little (Jarhead , Crimson Tide). Music is by Academy Award Nominee Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders (3:10 to Yuma), and sound design by Academy Award Nominee Paul N.J. Ottosson (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3).

In the summer of 2004, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) of Bravo Company are at the volatile center of the war, part of a small counterforce specifically trained to handle the homemade bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), that account for more than half of American hostile deaths and have killed thousands of Iraqis. The job, a high-pressure, high-stakes assignment, which soldiers volunteer for, requires a calm intelligence that leaves no room for mistakes, as they learn when they lose their team leader on a routine mission.

When Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) cheerfully takes over the team, Sanborn and Eldridge are shocked by what seems like his reckless disregard for military protocol and basic safety measures. And yet, in the fog of war, appearances are never reliable for long. Is James really a swaggering cowboy who lives for peak experiences and the moments when the margin of error is zero – or is he a consummate professional who has honed his esoteric craft to high-wire precision? As the fiery chaos of Baghdad threatens to engulf them, the men struggle to understand and contain their mercurial new leader long enough for them to make it home. They have only 38 days left in their tour, but with each new mission comes another deadly encounter, and as James blurs the line between bravery and bravado, it seems only a matter of time before disaster strikes.

With a visual and emotional intensity that makes audiences feel like they have been transported to the dizzying, 24-hour turmoil of life in the bomb squad, The Hurt Locker is both a gripping portrayal of real-life sacrifice and heroism, and a layered, probing study of the soul-numbing rigors and potent allure of the modern battlefield.

The Hurt Locker is set for release on June 26, 2009.

Source: Film School Rejects

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The Hurt Locker - English language trailer for Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq war movie

At long last we get the english language trailer for Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker (check out the review). It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes.

Baghdad, 2007: Not where you want to be.

The cradle of civilization has become a city of bombs. Every fifteen minutes an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) explodes with deadly impact … or must be disarmed.

Enter the bomb squad – the only unit trained to disarm these deadly devices. B-Company is the elite of the elite, running to ticking bombs when everyone else runs away. Still, the daily confrontations have begun to take their toll on two of its best soldiers, Sergeant Sanborn, an ex-Ranger who never threw a punch he didn’t think was well-deserved, and Specialist Eldridge, a young Socrates with a rifle, who believes all men are created equal – except the ones in his M4 scope.

With only 38 days left in their tour, Sanborn and Eldridge are forced to work with a new team leader, a mysterious tech named William James who treats the job like a cowboy going for a Sunday ride. James is good – maybe too good – and his strut scares the other men. It’s almost as if he enjoys toying with death.

As the insurgency escalate their attacks and the bomb squad must face increasingly tougher odds in the dangerous game of cat and mouse, James’ strange urge for danger pushes Sanborn and Eldridge to the edge of acceptable risk – and then takes them way beyond what they thought possible … until they are forced to choose between following James and saving their own lives.

With just 16 days left, the team receives its hardest mission yet: charge into the blazing aftermath of an exploded oil tanker. James is ready. Sanborn puts on his gloves. Eldridge cocks his rifle. And they go. The three men charge into that smoky inferno … shots ring out … a body falls … and only two men come walking back.

Now, they’re all in the Hurt Locker. And there are still 15 days left in the tour.

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Eagle Eye, 2008 - Movie Review

Director: D J Caruso

Starring: Shia Labeouf, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Mackie, Michael Chiklis, Ethan Embry, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton, William Sadler, Julianne Moore

Running Time: 118 minutes

Score: 8 / 10

This review by Babubhaut. WARNING: SPOILERS

When checking the IMDb credits, you can see four names officially down as writers on the project, one that it appears has been in Steven Spielberg's wheelhouse for quite some time, waiting patiently for technology to do it justice. However, all the buzz and press are praising wunderkinds Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman as the screenwriters. After watching the high-action, high-octane car chases and explosions, I am one to believe the duo behind Transformers are pulling the strings. Whether it's an original vision of the subject or rewrites on an existing draft, who knows? The fact of the matter is that this film contains a lot of excitement, adrenaline-pumping setpieces, and pedal to the floor pacing. One thing that won't happen—whether you buy into the Big Brother meets HAL plot or not—is boredom. That is an impossibility.

The plot is very well orchestrated; good job whoever should receive the credit. Right from the start we are shown our lead character Jerry Shaw's penchant for slacking and living day-to-day without the means to even pay his rent. He is the epitome of the new action hero, an under-motivated, intelligent dropout just waiting, subconsciously, to be given the chance to matter. His twin brother, a military/Air Force man, has just passed away and after burying him, Jerry gets caught up in a web of governmental and terrorist intrigue. Framed as an enemy of the state, our lead, the always-entertaining Shia LaBeouf, must follow the instructions being relayed to him via a woman's voice on his phone. The voice sets his escape into motion and—now a fugitive of the law—he meets up with many other people being told what to do by her. Michelle Monaghan's role, Rachel, is the most embedded of these strangers, not blackmailed by jailtime or death, but instead by the murder of her son. Both Rachel and Jerry become caught in a life-or-death situation that is way too big for them, or even us, to comprehend.

Now I don't mean to make it sound that I thought the film was convoluted or anything, it's actually pretty well plotted. Holes seem plugged up and everything that gets set into motion at the start comes to play later on. Nothing shown on screen is wasted, it all plays a factor in the outcome. The general clichés are all present of course; this is a Hollywood action film after all. Besides LaBeouf's perfect hero evolution, we get the single mom, strong-willed and capable of anything when pushed against a wall; the hard, by-the-book cop who gets so involved in the case that he begins to uncover the conspiracy and risk maybe trying to intervene by helping those which appear to be the enemy; and the politician, capable of making the tough decisions, but never willing to let the power corrupt his morals, despite what could be his if all goes to plan. The beauty of the film is that those stereotypes are integral pieces to the puzzle. The psychology of their roles makes what needs to happen occur. Just as the super-computer reads everyone's file and body language to predict their movements, the script utilizes their inherent traits to allow the story to make sense in a logical way.

What really helps you take your mind off of the contrivances, though, is the non-stop action. There are so many car chases, and each one sprinkled with explosions and surprises. I give credit to D.J. Caruso for helming this thing to such success being that he's never been behind the camera on an actioner like it. Director of the criminally underrated Salton Sea and last year's LaBeouf vehicle Disturbia, I wasn't sure how he'd handle the choreography and speed necessary. The guy did well, especially being that he could handle the quieter moments that helped bridge the chaos. Much of the film is seen through the lenses of technology, whether that be security cameras, voices over cell phones, radar footprints shown digitally over a map of the US, or even the sound vibrations from a cup of coffee. It all adds to the futuristic feel and I'm sure will cause many people to gasp at the possibility we may all be under the same surveillance in the real world as we sit watching.

The cast also works with the script, fleshing out the characters and making the unbelievable seem like it could happen. LaBeouf has a little scruff, trying to make him look older, but it's really just his everyman look and witty retorts that make him successful. Ever since "Even Stevens", the kid is just likable. Monaghan adds another solid role to her expanding resume, playing the desperate mother on a journey to save her son. A puppet to the plan underlying the entire film, she goes though a wide range of emotions and pulls them all off. The rest of the ensemble includes some very familiar faces: Anthony Mackie, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, and Ethan Embry (What's with his small serious cameos lately? This guy used to be groomed to take on the small comedy world). The most notable supporting role comes from Billy Bob Thornton, actually getting a part that doesn't necessitate his usual surly and vulgar disposition of late. It's a very human role that evolves a great deal while also adding some brilliant comic relief from his cynical sarcasm.

With all the praise I have for Eagle Eye and all the fun, it does fall into the Hollywood trap. The final five minutes or so are so tacked on and unnecessary they only make you think how great a bittersweet ending could have been. Hey, these guys need to recoup some money off the decent chunk of change laid down to finance this thing, so they must cater to the general public. Sometimes that means excising the proper conclusion, one fitting in tone and structure, in order to show a watered down feel-good smile-inducing epilogue after it. We can't all be perfect.
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The Hurt Locker - Iraq War Movie.

Peter Howell's review of Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker sounds good. I found mention of it on Hollywood Elsewhere. As well as those mentioned in the review, Guy Pearce (LA Confidential, The Time Machine, Neighbours, Memento) also stars.

"Just when you think the battle of Iraq war dramas has been fought and lost, along comes one that demands to be seen -- if you can handle the raging adrenaline," Howell begins.

"The Hurt Locker strips the Iraqi conflict of politics and brings it right down to the garbage-strewn pavement, where lives are saved through skill and nerve but lost through bad luck and malevolence.

"The film follows the men of Bravo Company, the elite U.S. army unit tasked with defusing bombs left on Baghdad streets by increasingly violent and determined insurgents.

"The bomb-removal boys have robots and shrapnel-resistant suits at their disposal, but they can't stop every blast -- as we see with devastating impact early on.

"The job ultimately comes down to playing hunches, keeping your cool and staying ever vigilant. If the IED (improvised explosive device) doesn't get you, the sniper hiding on a nearby rooftop just might. If not on this street, then the next one.

"Gutsy and gung-ho but new to Bravo is a sergeant named James (Jeremy Renner, in a breakout role), a reckless cowboy who has disarmed 873 bombs but is one short fuse away from being blown to kingdom come. He reminds himself of this with a collection of detonators he keeps under his bed.

"His subordinates Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are shocked by his methods and not shy about saying so, but are loyal to task and team.

"Testosterone flows non-stop and so does blood, but these macho men are just getting the job done. In so doing, they reveal much about themselves and also deliver some home truths about the Iraqi quagmire. This is no message movie, yet insights abound.

"Bigelow knows the male mind and she's an ace at action, as she's demonstrated before in films like Point Break and Strange Days. Now she can add titan of suspense to her laurels.

"If you can sit through The Hurt Locker without your heart nearly pounding through your chest, you must be made of granite."

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