The Hurt Locker

I had very high hopes for The Hurt Locker, and as is usually the case for the Oscars best picture winner it failed to deliver. The Hurt Locker attempts to take an in depth look at an American army bomb disposal unit and their time in Iraq. Lets first look at what this film did well at that was its visual styling’s, Kathryn Bigelow should be commended for the gritty and realistic camera work that could have made this film feel almost like a documentary. However this films biggest strength was also its biggest weakness, as due to the realistic camera work, when the other elements weren’t as realistic they seemed out of place. For example documentary camera work did not merge well with the traditional fast paced editing that was on display, and perhaps longer cuts would have suited this film better. The acting also suffered the same fate Jeremy Renner particularly gave a solid performance but due to reality of the camera work it just didn’t feel it fitted the film. The Hurt Locker is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination, however it is also not a great one.

Score 3/5