Welshrogue

Movie Review The Hurt Locker

A bomb disposal export in Iraq and his team must go around and disable IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices) before they can kill and destroy those around them.

This is an ultra realistic movie that deals with much more than just the job of cutting the correct red wire of a bomb. Filmed in Jordan, which to my uneducated eye, looks like I imagine Iraq to look, the movie follows a team of a bomb disposal expert and his two team mates through a city where every pile of rubbish may disguise a bomb and anyone watching may have a cell phone to set off the bomb.

This is a tense movie, not just for the characters but for the watcher who is permanently tensed up waiting for the next explosion or death. The plot introduces the main characters and then follows them as they deal with the day to day job in various ways.

Oscar nominated Jeremy Renner stars (and I do mean stars) as Staff Sargent William James, the bomb tech. I watched Renner previously in the short lived but excellent cop show The Unusuals as well as a brief role in the movie version of the TV show SWAT. Each time I found that Renner was believable and a very talented actor. If there is any justice in the world, he will go on and become a very well know, very rich actor who makes the right movies rather than just three or four blockbusters.

Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty play the support team for the bomb tech and while not as in focus as Renners character, still do an excellent job and are enjoyable to watch.

I found The Hurt Locker a challenging movie to watch because it is brutal, not in a Tarantino movie kind of way but in a honest, real life way that makes you glad you are not living in a war zone such as Iraq. After watching this, I had to find something light and brainless to watch so I can relax. Now that’s a movie doing its job.

The Hurt Locker is a movie that you should watch, even just once. A famous bald orange radio and TV host said that he would never watch it again but loved it. An excellent movie that does not glamorize war, makes you think, hard, and is physically grabs hold of you and doesn’t let go.

On 21st December 2012 the Mayan’s predict that…. ah screw it, its the end of the world as you know it! There will be fire, water and John Cusack.

I could go on about the acting, the plot such as it is, but the truth is, this is a movie about special effects and death and destruction. While the science may or may not be accurate, not being a scientist I honestly don’t know or care although I did see a discovery movie (Supervolcano) that contained a large part of the destruction featured in this movie.

Joseph Stalin is credited (incorrectly apparently) with saying “The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic” and this movie proves this to be true. When part of the united states falls into the sea, its hard to really care that Hollywood will be no longer making movies, Two and a Half men will no longer be shot and LA Lakers will never win another championship. Actually I still am not that concerned.

The destruction is overwhelming to the point that it just fades into the background rather than staying front and center. The effects of the destruction is OK, imaginative but not the most convincing. Its fun to watch but unlike the ground, I wasn’t moved.

Woody Harrelson does stand out as a complete nutter who predicts the end of the world but doesn’t stay around long enough to bring some comic relief to a movie that starts as a downer and doesn’t really stop.

Failed relationships are wrapped around the plot like vines choking the life out of the movie. A old guy on a cruise didn’t really make me care that one of them is estranged from his son. The lead character, played by John Cusack, is a divorced father with two small children living with their mother and her boyfriend. The president of the USA doesn’t have perfect relationship with his daughter. Shame no one makes a movie where there is a happy family who stays together.

2012 is directed by Roland Emmerich who had previously made The Day After Tomorrow, and Independence Day among others puts in his signature moments as usual. The most noticeable moment is the dog having a close call. In both movies aforementioned as well as 2012, a dog has a near death moment.

There are very clever movies, intelligent movies, movies where you put your brain in neutral and sit back and enjoy, and then there are movies such as 2012 which is dumb and boring, wrapped up in special effects and ineffective characters who I found it very hard to care about. If you like destruction that looks like its caused by Chuck Norris and Godzilla fighting underground, try and find a movie that features Chuck Norris and Godzilla fighting underground and if you fail to do that, you can watch this, I guess, if you are bored, I mean really bored!