The Hurt Locker: Review By MutantFairy

I'm not really a fan of war or war movies, especially when it comes to the Middle East. But this movie is an Oscar winner so I watched it & the award is well deserved. There are no speeches by the characters either for or against the war. They are just doing their jobs & dealing with the difficulties of war.

The movie is about a trio of bomb technicians as they near the end of their tour. They go on one mission after another, dealing with roadside bombs, car bombs & suicide bombers. It seems simple enough but it isn't. It is complicated & so are the characters. They may seem one dimensional at first but as the movie continues it becomes clear that they aren't. Things & people are just not that simple.

We see the soldiers deal with the difficult task of fighting an urban war where anyone can be the enemy. You can see from the action that it is never clear who is a friendly Iraqi & who isn't. Everyone is a potential threat, which means they have to treat everyone that way. That results in an encounter where James ends up saying "If he wasn't an insurgent before, he is now." Unfortunately the soldiers can not treat anything at face value. Is that a trash bag on the sidewalk or an IED? Are bystanders watching because they are curious or because they are involved? Someone speaking to them could be a distraction. This makes everything that happens in the movie very stressful. There is a high amount of tension & suspense because of the uncertainty. They aren't always successful and the only thing that is constant is the danger that they face.

The directing of course is fantastic: the camera doesn't get too shaky, things happen off-screen and there are some very powerful images. It all adds to the realism, giving you an idea of what it's like to be there. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie & Brian Geraghty are great & it was a bit of a surprise to see Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, & David Morse pop up in the movie. I did like the fact that there was minimal gore in the movie. I highly recommend it.