Movie Review: Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is a great movie, possibly the best movie so far, about the Iraq war. I don't know if it's in the list of classic war movies (see Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Full Metal Jacket), but it is the best recent war movie. Hurt Locker follows a sergeant who has chosen to be on the bomb squad. His duty is to disable roadside bombs, suicide bomber jackets, human cavity bombs, etc. He doesn't really know why he enjoys his duty but he does, even though it creates so much stress and depression for him. He could die at any time. His colleagues die in explosions or get injured by friendly fire. But at the end, he realizes that the one thing he cares about in life is his job. And so, he reenlists for another year. For him, the war is a adrenaline drug. It keeps him going.



You might say: that's pointless. Where's the redemption? Why the morbid overtones throughout? What's the plot-line? Well, the answer is that the movie purposely depicts a mundane everyday stress. Anything  could happen at any time but you never know when its going to happen. This is really an accurate depiction of war. Most of the time, soldiers aren't actually fighting. They're lying awake at night thinking about their lives, standing on patrol duty, driving around hostile streets, keeping an eye out for suicide bombers, trying to understand what the locals are telling them, etc. Now and then, they get to experience the "highlight" of being in an explosion or firefight. Their friend might die, leaving them depressed. Who knows?

But that's why this movie is brilliant. It brings an accurate depiction of battle and milks every last drop of suspense from the soldier's routine. It depicts everything from roadside bombs to repentant suicide bombers who want their vests disabled. It was a great movie with no military-bashing or Iraqi-bashing.

Most of all, the cinematography was brilliant. You have to watch to understand what I'm talking about. Nothing looks fake. You feel like you're watching a documentary.

CAUTIONS: There is heavy profanity and violence. The violence is not overboard - just what you'd expect from a modern war zone. The profanity was constant, but I will say that soldiers I've seen do talk like that. It's not unrealistic, given that most non-Christians use gratuitous profanity. I just say that to warn you guys. This is not a movie for the faint of heart or the young. My mom wouldn't have liked it and I think the audience for this kind of movie is restricted.

This movie won the Oscar for  Best Picture over Avatar. After seeing both movies, I agree with that result whole-heartedly. In 10 years, we'll look back and see Avatar for what it was: a poor storyline and movie with dated special effects that were pretty cool at the time. We'll look back at the Hurt Locker and classify it as a great film to understand Iraq. Just as Sergeant York and Western Front are recommended for WWI, Saving Private Ryan for WWII, Full Metal Jacket and others for Vietnam, Red October for the Cold War, Black Hawk Down for Somalia, one day we'll tab Hurt Locker as "the movie" for the Iraq war.

Agree? Comments? Disagree?