The Hurt Locker

Well, I’m getting closer and closer to my goal of all ten Best Picture films. Six down, four to go. Not even entirely sure which one is next myself. Could it be Precious? Or how about Up? Well, that doesn’t matter right now. What does matter is the review right here, right now. And tonight is The Hurt Locker and boy was it interesting.

The movie, just in case you don’t know, is a character study of a small bomb squad in the Iraqi War. We’re introduced to Sgt Thompson, Sgt Sanborn and Spc Eldridge. They are a group who don’t fear death, who do their job and they do it well. Well, that is until Sgt Thompson is killed by an explosion and they get a replacement leader. Thus enters Sgt James to take his place.

Sgt James truly shows no fear. They go out to disarm a bomb and he walks out in his bomb suit all ready to do it, walking tall and fearing no one. He then disarms a cluster of bombs that would make anyone crap themselves, but does he show fear? No, of course not. He’s being all that he can be.

There’s really not much to talk about plot wise in this film. This film’s purpose isn’t so much the plot, but showing the terrors of war. Showing that you don’t always win things and sometimes you don’t get your happy ending. You see the fear spread throughout the characters, the moments where you just break down and you can’t take it anymore. The side of war that you don’t see on TV, the weak moments our troops have because of the emotional toll it takes on you.

Well, I think the casting was outstanding. I didn’t know anybody except for a surprise appearance by Lord Voldemort himself, Ralph Fiennes, and a couple scenes with The Ice Truck Killer himself from Dexter Season 1 Christian Camargo. The editing was excellent. I’ve noticed that a few of the Best Picture films have a documentary feel to them, and this one was no different. You got to know the characters and feel for them as if they were real. It had a couple moments that made me laugh, and a couple that made me cry. It truly served its purpose.

Do I think that it should be up for Best Picture? Well, you know I’m not entirely sure. Don’t get me wrong, I liked this movie, I liked it a lot, but I don’t know if I liked it enough to be up for Best Picture (but then again, this is coming from the guy who thought Slumdog Millionaire, last year’s Best Picture winner, was disappointing).

So overall, it was a good film, one that I definitely would suggest to anybody to see. It’s not a family film, obviously. It shows the brutality of war and it makes you think a lot. I give it 8 out of 10.