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Rating: 5 out of 5
With most military movies, we always see the action scenes. Men fighting in the trenches against insane odds as they turn the battle and sometimes the war. Lately, the new military movies now revolve around the American War in Iraq and Afghanistan. We always see what goes on, but the Hurt Locker switches the game up on us. It shows the drug of war. How some people are addicted to night fighting but the environment that they are in. That being in a heightened sense of danger for a full year keeps them in that state even after the threat is gone. This film is an action film that keeps the intensity high with bomb defusing. You never think that bomb diffusing would be so intense and exciting, but holy f**k did this movie bring the A-game and never lets up. The Hurt Locker is a film that everyone should watch and will definitely enjoy.
The Bravo Company’s bomb disposal unit, currently stationed in Baghdad, is close to finishing their tour. The team consists of Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson (Pearce), Sergeant JT Sanborn (Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Geraghty). Things get intense during a bomb disposal when a butcher sets off a bomb by accident, killing Thompson. After the accident and only one month to go, the unit is introduced to Sergeant First Class William James (Renner). James is the new tech team leader, and things become quite heated as the team members don’t mesh. James is known as a renegade who loves the thrill and excitement of dismantling bombs with little regard to his team members’ safety or himself. As Sgt. JT Sanborn and Spc. Owen Eldridge just wants to survive the days of duty they have left. Tension soon boils over with each mission as James’ risk-taking drives everyone closer to an edge they might not live from.
Wow! Just wow! From start to finish, this movie is phenomenal. If you are looking for an intense film where it seems like one man can’t get away from the adrenaline of being in a highly stressful environment, then this is the film. The situations are so high and intense that you feel for each character and what they are going through. War is no fun and games. Everything in this film is so well done and put together. This movie is everything you want in a war film from the acting, directing, environment, and situation.
First, let’s give respect where respect is due. Kathryn Bigelow needs and must be applauded for this film and the direction she displayed. Bigelow is the only female director ever to with the Academy Award for Best Director, and she deserves that award. She put forth a film that is just intense and shows the mental exhaustion that several men go through in war. Like the film Platoon, where we see the mental fatigue of war, this film also does it. Both films dealt with being in hell, but this film was made in a way that the soldiers in it were just done with the war and wanted to get home. They counted down the days, but one in the group can’t escape from it. It is the only place he is normal, and Bigelow shows this throughout the film. Once again, big up to Bigelow.
The main highlight of this film is the intense situations that the three characters are put through. From the jump, the three men are in high-pressure situations with being a bomb disposal unit. If there is a job that sucks, it has to be a bomb disposal unit. You could be blown sky-high at any minute. First, the film starts off with the disposal of a bomb. At first, you think it is routine, but as the scene progresses, the tension slowly rises as the robotic bomb breaks down, and one of the men had to walk and do it manually. When they see a man with a cell phone, that is when shit got real and an epic scene with an explosion.
Another perfectly done scene was when Renner’s character, Staff Sergeant James, comes in as the new team member. The dude is off the wall, and during his first bomb disposal scene, he is completely off hinged. He doesn’t listen, and you can tell he feels at peace during the situation. Dude popped a smoke grenade just because, and when he was doing one bomb, he pulled up the wire to show it was connected to six other bombs. That was an awwwwwww s**t moment, and yet dude was cool as the other side of the pillow.
Let’s talk about the scene when the bomb team is out in the desert. They run into a mercenary group led by the one and only Lord Voldemort himself, Ralph Fiennes. You think it is another day until one of the mercenary team members accidentally runs up on the team. After figuring out what was going on, and the situation seems to subside, one of the mercenary team members gets snipped. When that happened, all hell broke loose in an intense scene. You had some pretty good snipping but nothing like in a COD game or even Halo game. The whole scene was just fierce, and after it, you need to give your heart some time to calm down.
Now the acting of this film is excellent. It was pre-Marvel Avengers, but this film had many people that had Marvel heroes in it. First, Anthony Mackie, as Sergeant J. T. Sanborn, was excellent in this role. He plays Sanborn as a by-the-book type of soldier who is really ready to leave the desert and go back home. In his mind, his main priority is to make sure all of his team members make it through their rotation and come home alive and unhurt. When something interferes with this thought, he pushes back hard. He just wants to make sure that his teammates live after one of them gets blown sky-high.
Brian Geraghty, as Specialist Owen Eldridge is a character that you will feel for. He takes orders and pretty much just follows the group, but he has some major mental issues. He has a hard time making his own decisions for himself and always asks for permission when he knows he should just execute on his instincts. He spots danger and knows he should attack but frequently hesitates.
The person who needs to be applauded, and it is so good to see him get nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, was Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant William James. Renner deserved his nomination because homeboy went to another level with this role. Renner played James as a war adrenaline junkie who gets the ultimate rush from disposing of bombs. It is literally his happy place, and he goes all out when doing it. He is unhinged and refuses to put his team in danger beside himself. Most of the tension is between Sanborn and himself.
The Hurt Locker needs to be mentioned as one of the best war films in history. It is in the conversation with the likes of Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Saving Private Ryan. Kathryn Bigelow needs to be given significant props for directing this phenomenal movie. The cast of Renner, Mackie, and Geraghty also need to be applauded for giving performances that keep you entertained. Watch this film because it’s not a political film but a film that deals with the mental fatigue of war.
