The Hurt Locker - A-Team in Iraq
Six Academy Awards was six too many.
The Hurt Locker is not a great film by any stretch, though it is exciting and tense in moments. It is also ridiculous.
I'm no vet whacko who cannot handle a little bit of authorial license. Nor am I a pedant who finds fault with minor inaccuracies. What I find objectionable in this film is its misrepresentative style. The shaky camera and attention to detail bespeaks a "realistic" representation. Yet, the film’s content is pure make-believe. Hence the style is disingenuous and compromises the film.
The characters are over done. They are walking clichés – the gung-ho war lover, the scared rookie, the guy just trying to serve his time and get home alive. Clichés are not people and this film suffers by trying to pass them off as such. And pity the poor Iraqis – they are not even clichés in this film, just dudes to shoot and blow up.
The Hurt Locker has a few nice set pieces but they don’t hold up to scrutiny. Some of the acting is great (even though the characters are not). Guy Pearce is superb in his brief early scene.
Importantly, this is not a war film. It is more like an episode of the A-Team set in Iraq. It is an action adventure film that fulfils the fantasies of teen boys and adult men to be everything they can – and more!
The Hurt Locker is not a great film by any stretch, though it is exciting and tense in moments. It is also ridiculous.
I'm no vet whacko who cannot handle a little bit of authorial license. Nor am I a pedant who finds fault with minor inaccuracies. What I find objectionable in this film is its misrepresentative style. The shaky camera and attention to detail bespeaks a "realistic" representation. Yet, the film’s content is pure make-believe. Hence the style is disingenuous and compromises the film.
The characters are over done. They are walking clichés – the gung-ho war lover, the scared rookie, the guy just trying to serve his time and get home alive. Clichés are not people and this film suffers by trying to pass them off as such. And pity the poor Iraqis – they are not even clichés in this film, just dudes to shoot and blow up.
The Hurt Locker has a few nice set pieces but they don’t hold up to scrutiny. Some of the acting is great (even though the characters are not). Guy Pearce is superb in his brief early scene.
Importantly, this is not a war film. It is more like an episode of the A-Team set in Iraq. It is an action adventure film that fulfils the fantasies of teen boys and adult men to be everything they can – and more!
