The Hurt Locker: Movie Review
Rating: 9/10
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, Evangeline
Lilly, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Finally arriving on New Zealand shores after numerous successes at various
awards ceremonies, is The Hurt Locker, the front runner for success at the 2010
Oscars.
It's the story of a team of bomb disposal team in Iraq whose lives are put in
constant jeopardy on a daily basis - and is based on freelance journalist Mark
Boal's accounts of when he was embedded with an American bomb squad.
In a cracking turn, Jeremy Renner plays Sergeant First Class William James,
who's brought in as the leader of the Explosives Ordnance Disposal Unit which
heads to just about every perilous situation on the streets of Iraq, never
knowing if this is the moment their lives will be forfeit.
James works with Anthony Mackie's Sergeant Sanborn and Brian Geraghty's
Specialist Eldridge - and they form an uneasy bond, often fighting off the scene
and cool and collected when called out; however, it's not plain sailing for the
trio when it becomes clear that James isn't averse to taking risks and avoiding
protocol.
But what will be the price of his behaviour to the EOD unit?
The Hurt Locker arrives with heavy expectation - and doesn't disappoint in
the slightest. From the moment the film opens, you're thrown straight into the
middle of it all. Within seconds, The Hurt Locker grips you in its adrenalin
vice and doesn't let go.
Director Kathryn Bigelow's crafted an excellent low budget film which
captures the grittiness, the horror and the heart in your mouth moment that the
troops in Iraq must face; sure, you can argue that the entire film is simply
made up of one set piece after another as we follow the EOD unit, but there is a
narrative thread which links it together.
Where The Hurt Locker also triumphs - aside from Renner's simply mesmerising
turn as Sergeant James - is the fact the leads are unknowns; a film such as this
one rises and falls on expectations and the use of relative newcomers to the
lead roles means you're never quite sure who will survive when they head to each
call out. At times, it's heart in your mouth cinema which will blow you away in
more ways than one (apologies - pun intended).
Emotionally gripping, viscerally thrilling, and an edge of your
seat powderkeg of tension, The Hurt Locker remains one of the best films of the
year (something which the number of awards it's received only serves to cement).
Packed full of moments that will shock and awe you, The Hurt Locker is essential
viewing.
At Darren's World of Entertainment - a movie, DVD and game review blog. The latest movie and DVD reviews - plus game reviews as well. And cool stuff thrown in when I see it.
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