The Hurt Locker

I have a problem with this film. It derives all of its atmosphere and suspense from the banal fact that a bomb might (or might not) go off at any time. Its characters are uninteresting, the dialogue is horrible and the dramaturgical framework almost non-existent (it’s just a series of situations that the characters facing death have to survive). On the other hand, these very flaws make it all the more realistic and valuable as a testimony from the given places. Maybe all this movie needed was to decide whether it wanted to be an exciting thriller or an interesting docudrama. (12/20/2009)

It's a mystery to me how this brilliant flick didn’t get a wider audience response. What Stone's Platoon meant for an "alternative look" at the Vietnam conflict, Kathryn Bigelow's film means for the current U.S. Army mission in Iraq, and for its guys, who are there trembling for their lives and counting each day until the end of their tour of duty. The film doesn't moralise, it doesn't lecture, it just offers blood, sweat, frustration, the dust of Iraqi roads, fear of death and general paranoia, where even an Iraqi with a camera can be a potential terrorist. Not since Mendes's Jarhead has there been such a good military-themed film. (05/13/2009)

Kathryn Bigelow understands the tough guy heart better than half of Hollywood's major league action directors. This film about a group of bomb squad technicians stuck in the heart of Iraq and struggling daily with the problem of "red or blue?" could not have been made in any other way than as a suspenseful thriller with a sultry atmosphere of hot streets and desert distances. This is perhaps the first cinematic contribution to the subject that doesn't moralize about the good/bad side of warfare or try to understand the souls of Islamic fighters. Instead, it gives us a glimpse into the lives of those who are left with nothing but cynicism and the belief that any proper course of action to disarm is one that doesn't make you scream. Scenes of pulling bombs out of the ground, searching for a detonator in a car, or saving a suicide bomber are all worthy of a discharge because they make your blood run cold. However, the director is ultimately undermined by the screenwriter's stiffer dialogue and the cheap escapade with little Beckham. Otherwise, it’s damn great! 4 ½. (02/04/2009)

Full Metal Jacket for the new millennium – militant, cynical and predatory. A ballbusting documentary drama about a war-addicted people, about overgrown boys for whom normal life is far too normal. Bigelow loaded a cart full of naturalism, the hot Iraqi atmosphere and brilliant acting. This type of dynamically filmed war drama has been lacking since the days when Scott filmed Black Hawk Down. Like him, Bigelow leaves aside the moral assessment of the conflict and instead goes deep into the characters' psyche and adds a solid portion of irony (something that was missing in Black Hawk Down). There is great portion of raw fight scenes and sweaty dialogues of the average soldier for two solid hours. The Hurt Locker is not trying to get to the heart of the Iraq war, but rather simply capture the strange soul of a warrior. And in this respect, Kathryn Bigelow did a better and more responsive job than her male colleagues. In addition to balls, the film also has empathy... For me, The Hurt Locker is one of the American film highlights of 2009. Perhaps even the best. (02/07/2010)

I can't say that this award-winning Oscar drama knocked me off my feet, and it won't make it into my top war movies either, as it lacks a cohesive plotline, and the characters, except for the main protagonist, are merely sketched out. It's a depiction of several fragmented scenes from the operations of a unit focused on neutralizing explosives. The authenticity in capturing the overall atmosphere in Baghdad and war-torn Iraq can definitely be appreciated. In comparison to Kathryn Bigelow's film, Hollywood's so-called war movies, like for example Three Kings, seem rather awkward. However, the authenticity of individual scenes and the protagonist's experiences are not all that magnificent. In reality, playing it safe and adhering to caution is much more common, and a soloist indulging in adrenaline would not be understood by their unit colleagues, and especially not by their superiors. I estimate that they would've earned themselves an end to their mission at least three times due to their escapades. American units are specialized and usually call in the appropriate special forces to handle extraordinary situations, so pyrotechnics specialists interfering with the work of snipers or clearing adjacent sectors of terrorists is pure fiction. Another aspect to appreciate in this drama is the absence of the usual patriotic pathos, clichés, and above all, political correctness. Kathryn Bigelow also avoids unnecessary naturalistic repulsiveness, as war in her interpretation is stress, fatigue, constant tension, dirt, and waiting for the end of the mission. Overall impression: 80%. (04/01/2010)

Finally, a proper movie about a bomb squad. Excellently filmed. The opening scene with the robot is flawless. Kathryn Bigelow creates an incredibly exciting atmosphere, and every “disposal" has an ace up its sleeve. I liked Renner in S.W.A.T., and it's a good thing he's sticking to these badass roles. Ralph Fiennes and a small cameo by Evangeline Lilly is also delightful. If there were fewer scenes, I wouldn't hesitate to give it five stars. (04/21/2009)

Quite intimate and unfortunately often also quite uninspiring. It has some truly revolutionary elements and some already seen a hundred times over. In the end, it’s average. A big plus is the fact that Bigelow doesn't lean towards any side. she works as an observer and doesn't add or subtract anywhere, and that’s not very easy – none of the great war movies I can think are 50-50. The sound design is excellent, and will surely be appreciated by connoisseurs and home cinema owners. The sniper exhibition and explosions are especially outstanding. The psychology is average, I expected more. Considering that the competitor was a pleasant, although relatively conceptually stale Avatar, I quite understand the Oscars. (04/04/2010)

I love Kathryn Bigelow's films, but The Hurt Locker disappointed me. The main character bothered me terribly (I just don't like these pompous supermen very much), but otherwise I had almost no reservations. The cinematography, the direction, the constant tension in the air, the final idea... Basically, the unknown actors (to me) act well, but it still wouldn't have hurt to have familiar names (!!!Ralph Fiennes!!!) warm up on screen for more than five minutes. Best scenes: A “long-distance" shootout in the desert, a bomb in a child, a shower, the end. Three and a bit. (04/14/2010)

The individual sequences are adrenaline packed and Kathryn Bigelow does a good enough job with the “will it explode or not” dilemma to push the viewer into their seat through the simple movements around the mise-en-scène. Unfortunately, the episodic scenes of the life of an elite unit are pasted together in an attempt at a story where the emotions don’t work due to the weak profiling of the characters, while the attempt at a moral insight is not very successful either. It is realistic, probably (fortunately, I can’t judge), but the constantly shaky camera doesn’t work as ingeniously as in other films and actually disrupts the leisurely built atmosphere of an environment where every movement is dangerous. Jeremy Renner’s performance keeps things afloat, providing the viewer some depth they can hold on to. 65% (05/04/2020)

Let’s make a war movie based on Kathryn Bigelow: We’ll create a setting for a scene and flesh out the location to the last detail. We'll spend the rest of the day explaining to eighty extras what they're supposed to be doing in that location and that they're not supposed to notice the strange people with cameras running around. At the end, we'll put the lead actors on the first marker and explain which way to go and what to do. If a cameraman brings a stabilizer or, heaven forbid, a tripod on set, he'll have 10% of his salary docked. Repeat seven times and we have a feature film. The Hurt Locker could have been perfect if it hadn't stumbled on two things. On a second viewing, we already know that all of the film's visual attributes have been exhausted in the first scene, and from there on the film repeats an established routine. Secondly, despite all sincere efforts, the catharsis comes only in individual scenes through their denouement, but there is no way left to clean up the corners of the whole construct. I wouldn't want to be Cameron coming home from the studio where he's spending his third summer and being told by his old lady: "Tea, where have you been? I put the Oscar on the fireplace, if you don't mind. I'll tell you, that year in Jordan, when we were filming that Hurt Locker, it was hell. I caught dysentery from falafel six times. Yeah, and I went shopping today and I forgot which cornflakes you like. So I grabbed the ones closest to hand. Can you believe they had a whole rack of fucking cornflakes...?" (03/05/2010)

Excellent, realistic, intense, yet boring. I can't help it, but military movies of this kind mean nothing to me. There are scenes that have emotion in them, but it's true that I would probably expect more from women. The emotions are only present for a moment, otherwise it's a perfect depiction of action that could actually be real, thanks to the camera work. It's not a documentary, just an attempt to come somewhat close to it believably. These are not movies for me. (03/31/2014)

Suspenseful through and through, I'll give it that. The most ridiculous thing is that all manner of effort and a great deal of experience can be blown to smithereens, as it were, in one second (sometimes there's at least a helmet left) and any formerly impeccable bomb tech can be reduced to a tossed salad in the next. I will admit with all honestly that it was often had for me and my nerves were in at least ten different buckets when the guy in the strange suit was struggling with all sorts of wires, pliers, and locks. If Kathryn Bigelow wanted to provide a picture of how the work of army bomb squad technicians is no joke, she did it in a grandiose and very evocative way, and I applaud her. Unfortunately, there is an agitprop lurking somewhere in the background that calls for pity and unprecedented admiration and understanding of the American martyrs in Iraq, and I don't like that, because by doing so the Yanks are brainwashing the majority of the average intelligent population, who then project American soldiers as their heroes and saviors. And even though it's a total triumph (certainly in the technical aspects), I still don't get all the Oscars. (07/06/2014)