Hurt Locker

Year: 2009

Grade: B-

Country: USA

Director: Bigelow

Review

not as good as the hype surrounding it. outside of the production values and acting, it’s actually pretty average as far as war films go. i think a lot of the hype has to do with the fact that it’s the first film about this iraq war. that said, i felt like jarhead, which was actually about gulf war 1, was essentially a film about the current gulf war because of the universality of the emotions and the similar setting. in the end, most of these war films are the same because all war is the same. the only thing that really differentiates itself with this war is the fact that we often don’t know who the enemy is so there is a paranoia that arises as a result. hurt locker touches on this, as well it should.

i’ve seen a few other bigelow films – point break, strange days, and k-19: the widowmaker. each one of those films gets worse so i suppose hurt locker is good for her career because it certainly appeared to me that she was making shittier and shittier films as she got older. k-19, if memory serves, was a true piece of crap.

mackie and renner were both good, though renner wasn’t very likable. too many problems and too much hype.

Watched in theater    Watched on TV