The Hurt Locker (Review)

Yet another movie getting lots of underground buzz is Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker", and for fairly good reason. So far, it's got a few golden globe nominations, including best picture and best actor for Jeremy Renner as Srg. William James. Going into this movie, I had serious doubts. In my eyes, Bigelow will always be known for her over-the-top action movies, like Point Break and Strange Days. Never have I once thought of her as so much as an artist, but more like someone who sits behind a camera and does their job just enough to make a watchable movie.

It's obvious this is out of her comfort zone, and thankfully she took the chance. The Hurt Locker follows a bomb squad in Baghdad, and their daily countdown towards going home. There's a few twists and turns, unexpected happenings, and even a few very emotional moments, but overall, Bigelow keeps the action going over two hours and five minuets fairly well. It doesn't exactly "fly by", but you will be standing in place wondering what's next rather than checking your watch.

The direction is your typical modern war film: the shaky camera, the gritty realism, and so on and so forth, but Bigelow shows restraint where most modern war films don't: the camera may move a lot, but you can always see what's going on. One scene that comes to mind is a shootout in the middle of the desert. Now, I won't go into specifics, but the way the camera gets both sides of the story gives off the sense of a direction doing her job very well.

Possibly the biggest remark I can give to the movie is the amazing job done by Jeremy Renner. If anyone deserves an acting nominee this year, it's him. I've only seen him in one or two other movies, and each time, he does an absolutely incredible job. Obviously, The Hurt Locker is no exception. He plays Srg. Williams James, a somewhat suicidal, bomb-riding cowboy who's whole life evolves around his job, rather than the family he left behind. As the film goes on, the character changes and shifts in direction, as he's faced with many challenging options and decisions. The way Renner involves himself completely into the role is the stuff of legend, and it's obvious that he will be an actor to watch in the future.

Overall, The Hurt Locker is a pretty damn fine movie, it's few flaws aside. The biggest flaw, in my opinion, is the lack of a real story. You get lost in time while watching, and the only real line to tell what's happening and when is by the on-screen countdown days till' the soldiers go home. Other than that, it's highly watchable, and I can easily recommend it to war movie fans. The suspense, the characters, the direction: all shows just how good Bigelow can be afterall.

OVERALL: 4/5