The Hurt Locker

So I saw this a few days ago and thus have had time to let it settle in, on first viewing it I really enjoyed it, and nothing has changed since then. I had heard that it was good, one of the best war movies of the past few years and I would have to agree. We've all seen the take on war as being something that people fear and loathe (not in Las Vegas) and when we follow the characters in the wars of the movies for the most part they are scared and don't want to be there. This is where this movie to me differed the most as compared to other war movies. The main focus and character of the movie is a bomb diffuser who seems to just love what he does.

We start the movie seeing what it takes to defuse a bomb in Iraq and how quickly things can go wrong and how deadly it is. When someone's running from a bomb and it blows up there is no slow motion fly into the air that they just walk away from. They go down and they stay down. The story quickly moves on and introduces us to the center mystery and enigma of the story, out of the three characters that we get to know you wonder and are amazed the most by the guy in their little unit who actually is going and diffusing the bombs. The other two people we get and we see their motivation or lack there of in certain ways, and here comes in this cowboy who is basically looking for the best way to die, and is obsessed with it.

Scene after scene is just building on how much the audience can be on edge and tense, I don't usually gasp while watching a movie, but I did several times with this. And the scares and tension don't come from some boogey man, or killer with a knife, its in the sheer terror of the spilt second from when the bomb maker hits the switch and the bomb does what it was made to do. It might seem that the movie would just become a broken record, I mean how many times can you watch someone diffuse a bomb? Well apparently its a lot because I never got bored with it.

The way its shot is very simple, its digital, and dirty and quick, it makes tons of "mistakes" but it helps in establishing this is not a film or movie but reality, which I was quick to want to believe. The lack of big stars at least after the first few minutes help with that. I recognized all of the players, but not in the same way I would if it were say....Brad Pitt. The camera shakes and shows everything in the manner I wanted it to. There is one great shot in particular from inside the Hummer when we see someone get blown up and we see and not see everything we should, great shot. There are a few unexpected cameos, that made it that much more enjoyable, its nice to see a big actor come in and play a role you wouldn't expect of them.

The film plays with the heads of the characters we well as the audience, I looked around the theatre during some of the more interesting parts and saw the strangest looks on peoples faces because the movie is utter insanity, as i guess most war is. From the line that is shown on the screen before the movies starts which simply states that War is like a drug we do understand the one crazy character in the film, we get that he's addicted, but why? Why do people do this to themselves, walking the tight rope between life and death. What is it about man that makes us want to destroy ourselves? It was a great movie, not the best war movie Ive ever seen, but definitely gives a new view point on war, and the war in Iraq. Its a great counter statement to "Jarhead" another great war movie about the middle east which is very "clean" and "calculated" while "The Hurt Locker" is bloody, manically laughing with a match in one hand and dynamite in the other. Definitely worth a look by everyone. 8/10 stars.