By fitsnews – March 6, 2010
By FITSNews || We’d heard the buzz surrounding The Hurt Locker, which swept the recent BAFTA awards and tied James Cameron’s Avatar with nine Academy Award nominations.
But is the flic – which tells the story of a military bomb squad in Iraq – really as good as advertised?
Honestly?
It was better.
In fact, it’s the best war movie we’ve seen since Full Metal Jacket – one reason why it boasts an insanely-high 97 percent “fresh” rating over at Rotten Tomatoes.com.
In fact, we’re ready to go ahead and put The Hurt Locker in the pantheon of all-time bad ass military films along with Apocalypse Now, Empire of the Sun, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Glory, The Caine Mutiny, Saving Private Ryan, Patton, The Pianist, and yes, Inglourious Basterds.
The movie, which was directed by James Cameron’s ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, tells the story of three soldiers stationed in Iraq whose job is to “dispose” of enemy ordnance – i.e. “improvised explosive devices” (roadside bombs, car bombs and even a suicide bomber). Driven by its gritty, ultra-realistic cinematography and the suspense of each new “disposal” assignment, The Hurt Locker excels where other Iraq-era movies have, pardon the pun, “bombed.”
In our opinion the movie is also aided, not hindered, by its unheralded cast.
In fact, other than a brief opening cameo by Guy Pearce and a similarly short appearance by Ralph Fiennes, the film relies on three relatively unknown actors, Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, to tell its story.
Renner, however, won’t be unknown for long, though, as he provides audiences with perhaps the most intense male action performance since Russell Crowe in Gladiator ten years ago.
Bottom line?
Watch this flic …
UPDATE: The Hurt Locker won six Oscars night including best picture and best director for Bigelow.
