Blood Diamond

Here, the current trends of an indictment of crooked deals with ostentatious goals, preferably set in Africa's own blood-plagued landscape, is blended into a reasonably intelligent spectacle that doesn't have the heavy-handedness of Hotel Rwanda, nor is it as uncompromising as The Constant Gardener. Nonetheless, it is fantastically shot (the run through the streets, or the final purge, are among the action highlights of the year) and still sensitive to the subject matter despite its more mainstream conception, and the acting is also very vital. This relates to more than DiCaprio, from whom it's kind of expected, but from the phenomenal Djimon Hounsou, with whom the viewer shares a plethora of emotions ranging from sadness to laughter to fierce anger. It is he who carries the film and without him, this perfectly polished piece of work would be only half as good. (02/24/2007)

Do not be fooled by the long exposition into an important and dangerous topic. What will follow is worth it. Edward Zwick proves that "The Last Samurai" was not just a coincidence. The harsh scenes of the ruthless R.U.F. group, Djimon Hounsou's breathtaking determination, and the uninterrupted tender love story symbolizing undying hope. Additionally, DiCaprio, as Danny Archer, is a properly angry Rambo, and the scene where he wades through muddy water in the camp amidst explosions and bullet salvos is an unexpected action thriller. Give "Blood Diamond" a chance, no matter what you think about the subject and genre. And it will hurt for Africa. (09/12/2007)

The epic production design, brilliant technical side and the suitably booming soundtrack by James Newton Howard are the indisputable pluses here. The makers achieve the almost impossible for most of the movie, successfully balancing on the edge between an adventure movie in Romancing the Stone style, while also having enough time to highlight the problems in Sierra Leone, and perhaps most of the African continent. The action scenes are intense, and the dramatic storyline has balls. What prevents Blood Diamond from getting a better score is the closing quarter hour where the hitherto well-constructed characters turn into one-dimensional cutouts. Everything ends up as expected and we even get a moral at the end for those who managed not to understand what Zwick is saying the whole time using “movie language". An ending like that might be okay for family viewing, but in a politically engaged movie this is absolutely at odds with the rest of it. And that is doubly disappointing in a movie of this quality. (01/25/2007)

Yes, Blood Diamond can be criticized for a certain sentimentality, which stands out especially during the death of one of the characters, and overall a slightly Hollywood-tinted script, which caters to an American moralistic and positive view of the world. However, it is top-notch directorial craftsmanship with plenty of quality performances, a story set in a realistic environment, and a rarely functional combination of political themes that reveals a burning issue of the present, with a quality adventure story. If a tragicomic mishmash like Rambo has almost the same rating, while the difference in quality is like that between a grain of sand and the Sahara, then I have no choice but to give Blood Diamond five stars. If the adventure and action genre were always represented by such high-quality films as this one, then I would have no problem with it. The fight scenes, whether in the jungle or especially during the siege of the capital, are among the best I have seen in the relevant genre in recent months. Overall impression: 90%. (04/08/2010)

The typical Hollywood sterile spectacle playing at being something more, which is spoiled by the dopey producer moves like African natives speaking English to each other, or off-screen killing. Worth mentioning are DiCaprio's fancy accent and some action scenes, but the whole thing is ruined by a disgustingly pathetic ending, which has simply always been Zwick's problem. (09/12/2008)