The Hurt Locker Review
April 6th 2010 07:54
The Hurt Locker has been receiving an utterly ridiculous amount of praise since its release way back last year in the US. Having won Best Picture at the Oscars as well, one would only expect an absolutely stellar film - and this is quite surprising considering most films based on War are usually overtly patriotic and far too over the top in its gore (I don't care what you say, Saving Private Ryan wasn't that good).
So with the film finally seeing the light of day on Australian shores, albeit exceptionally late, does it really live up to its reputation as the Best Picture of 2009?
Well, arguably, yes.
And this is the funniest part about the film. There were a lot of good films released in 2009; District 9, Up, Star Trek and Coraline to name a few, so The Hurt Locker being the cream of the crop is certainly some kind of massive achievement.
To quickly set the scene, the story follows the journey of Sergeant First Class William James as he leads two other specialist soldiers, going around Iraq disabling IED's - or in English, bombs. The viewer is essentially sucked into the film and gets the closest possible experience of what it's like to have a very large bomb right next to you, and you have to disarm it.
That's really the plot in a nutshell, but it works very well. It's a simple premise but the complex emotions that are grinded throughout each scene, the intensity of each moment and the personalities of the characters are utterly fantastic in execution. James (played by Jeremy Renner) is an interesting character in that he seems to be almost infatuated with his job, which is defusing a bomb that could kill him at the slightest mistake. He certainly shows his prowess through the film - he keeps his cool regardless of situation, and when working away at a bomb he tends to have near clairvoyant levels of focus with them. He's a master at his job, and Renner presents this amazingly well as the movie plays out.
But with his mastery, even more emotions get in the way of things with many complicated and chilling scenes later on in the film, and it begs to question what goes through the head of these soldiers as they experience these things; you think you understand each character as the movie progresses, but then something happens that will completely change your opinion and outlook on them.
The Hurt Locker is a complex film. It's not for everyone either. It's a very hard film to watch and is only for the people that really enjoy something that delves into the minds of a character and plays with human emotion. It will likely be discussed in a few years on among students in film study, as each character can be studied and looked into for what they represent, feel and how they are in general. It is an extremely well presented, well paced and overall well made film that, if you enjoy it, will stimulate your brain on levels that many of the movies of 2009 will not even touch. Highly recommended film, and one of the best War movies I've seen in quite some time.
5/5
So with the film finally seeing the light of day on Australian shores, albeit exceptionally late, does it really live up to its reputation as the Best Picture of 2009?
Well, arguably, yes.
And this is the funniest part about the film. There were a lot of good films released in 2009; District 9, Up, Star Trek and Coraline to name a few, so The Hurt Locker being the cream of the crop is certainly some kind of massive achievement.
To quickly set the scene, the story follows the journey of Sergeant First Class William James as he leads two other specialist soldiers, going around Iraq disabling IED's - or in English, bombs. The viewer is essentially sucked into the film and gets the closest possible experience of what it's like to have a very large bomb right next to you, and you have to disarm it.
That's really the plot in a nutshell, but it works very well. It's a simple premise but the complex emotions that are grinded throughout each scene, the intensity of each moment and the personalities of the characters are utterly fantastic in execution. James (played by Jeremy Renner) is an interesting character in that he seems to be almost infatuated with his job, which is defusing a bomb that could kill him at the slightest mistake. He certainly shows his prowess through the film - he keeps his cool regardless of situation, and when working away at a bomb he tends to have near clairvoyant levels of focus with them. He's a master at his job, and Renner presents this amazingly well as the movie plays out.
But with his mastery, even more emotions get in the way of things with many complicated and chilling scenes later on in the film, and it begs to question what goes through the head of these soldiers as they experience these things; you think you understand each character as the movie progresses, but then something happens that will completely change your opinion and outlook on them.
The Hurt Locker is a complex film. It's not for everyone either. It's a very hard film to watch and is only for the people that really enjoy something that delves into the minds of a character and plays with human emotion. It will likely be discussed in a few years on among students in film study, as each character can be studied and looked into for what they represent, feel and how they are in general. It is an extremely well presented, well paced and overall well made film that, if you enjoy it, will stimulate your brain on levels that many of the movies of 2009 will not even touch. Highly recommended film, and one of the best War movies I've seen in quite some time.
5/5
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