As I was watching the "Hurt Locker" I didn't believe I was going to enjoy myself with it. War movies are really not my cup of tea. I don't feel they do anything for me. People getting shot, explosions, the "buddy-buddy" relationship people share. I really could care less. So as the movie progressed and got deeper into a story line that made me actually have to watch it, I became enthralled. Why didn't I start watching this movie forever ago?
The premise of the movie is that a group of soldiers, a bomb squad, are brought into the city of Iraq to defuse bombs. Sounds simple, but it is so much more then that. What it is is a very intense, pulse pounding, heart skipping genius of a movie. Sergent First Class Will James, played brilliantly by Jeremy Renner, is a hot shot with a lot a baggage who is assigned to a group of guys that have spent almost a year detonating bombs. While the others have grown accustom to playing it safe and getting the job done as quickly as possible, Will comes in and changes the whole dynamic of the group. When at first his fellow soldiers dislike like him and want nothing to do with him, they soon realize that he is the best out there and they were going to have to start trusting him and play by his rules.
The film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, is beautifully shot. She understands the raw emotions that are going on in this city and films it perfectly. Scenes in where they are in the town and Will is detonating the bombs are some of the most intense filmed, since the opening scene in "Saving Private Ryan". She films this movie like a documentary in which you feel like your there with the soldiers and gives you an understanding with what they do in their time not in the line of fire. When they're under extreme circumstances, she makes it feel like you are the one who is taking care of the bombs and she is trusting you to make sure they are not to go off. All the intense moments in the film, which are a lot, makes you sweat, because she takes it to another extreme. She reads the faces of her cast perfectly and you can tell that she cares about them. She lets you know that they are human and have flaws. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts getting more offers. At the moment she is my front runner for Best Director for the Academy Awards. Yes I know James Cameron is almost nominated for the same award and the work he did with Avatar was truly amazing as well, but I feel as though Kathryn had less to work with and made a bigger impact in such a small film. She made a little war possibly the Greatest War Movie of all time. She has an eye for making a connection with the characters in which you want to be them and lets you understand that we are human and this is how the world works. I give "Hurt Locker" 6 of out 7. It was truly an amazing movie that NO ONE will be disappointed with. Even if you don't care for War movies give a chance, because I was one of you.
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