The Hurt Locker

I love war movies. I love the routine that soldiers have to go through from keeping the peace to clearing rooms. I love the spontaneous sniper and trip wire. I love how civilians don't understand. I love that a nine year old can carry an AK-47. I love this stuff in movies only, real life is different. Shit is fucked up and scares the crap out of me.

For me there are two kinds of war movies. Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers and Black Hawk Down. Action, drama and more action with a little more action on top. These movies rely more on the war part itself with little back story of say, saving a son after his brothers die or wives banding together to deliver bad news and so on. These are good movies but they are more highlights of war rather then the full game.

The other kind of movie started, for me, with Jarhead. A movie about war but with no real war in it. That's where The Hurt Locker comes in. It definitely is a step above Jarhead but it's in the same boat. Movies like this revolve around what it takes to be a soldier rather then just watching them fight. You don't just hand a kid a gun and watch him kill people with out repercussions. I want to see them cry, get mad and think about what they're doing. To me this feels more real.

I just want to say that I'm not taking away from any movie of real life war. But war has changed and modern day war is more about missiles and strategic strikes then throwing thousands of soldiers on a beach.

Good:
Jeremy Renner - This guy is awesome. I've seen a couple of his movies and he's good in them but watching The Unusuals (a TV show that was canceled last year) really made him stand out to me. He just has that charisma with that I don't give a fuck or have anything to live for attitude. It works for him.

William James (this is Jeremy Renner's character in the movie) - This is my favorite kind of character soldier. He reminded me of Jeremy Tindal. Crazy redneck, strong for his size with a soft side that he doesn't like people seeing. Right Rick?

Ending - Chucks I feel like you can relate to the ending more then anyone else because you've been there. When you do what Renner's character does, you are not ever going to be happy with a 9-5 job. Even being back in society, say at a grocery store, will be weird.

I think I've said enough. This is a good movie, the only bad thing for me was that I probably won't ever re-watch it and that's big in my decision making for a rating. Hopefully I've convinced you to see this because it is really good. I like all Danger can appreciate a well written, well acted movie about what it's really like to play in the sand.

Rating:
V V V V