Hurt Locker Review

The crazy suspensful movie by Catherine Hardwicke is storming the awards and as of now is the front runner for best picture at the Oscars, but is it any good? I mean, Clint Eastwood won best director and best picture, but his movies aren't any good, so is this one?

Jeremy Renner of SWAT fame stars as Sergeant James, a cocky, reckless bomb-squad tech in Iraq. James takes over a team of soldiers who just saw their commander blown up as James comes in with full swagger and just casually disarms bomb after bomb, seemingly without reguard for his or his teams safety as missions go wrong, and things happen, the adrenaline level only gets higher.

This movie is nominated for best actor in Jeremy Renner, best director for Catherine Hardwicke, along with best picture and best screenplay. Is it going to win all of that? No. Should it? I don't think so, but that doesn't mean it's not a great flick. This movie makes simply walking down the street tension filled, and makes the audience stay on the edge of their seat all the way to the end of the film. Renner should clearly be nominated and I would be fine with him winning best actor. His portrayal of an unpredictable rogue bomb squad guy was absolutley brilliant.

The picture was exactly what the Oscar voters would pick as best picture, and I think it could easily win best cinematography. I think Avatar was the more immersive, overall better picture, but both were fantastic. The one problem I had with the movie was the small bit of plot that never developed. There was inference to a lead badguy who seems to be setting up these bombs for our character James to disarm, but that part never developed, leaving me wondering exactly what was going on, and if there would be a sequel.

So, overall, this is a fantastic movie, with tons and tons of tension and is a must watch for anyone. Is it something you'll want to watch over and over again? No, but it's a must watch the first time around.

I give it a 9 out of 10

(Editors Note: I figured I would try a video review of the movie as well. Don't worry, I'm not thinking of moving to Hollywood to start up a career in acting or anything, but here's my 2 minute review of Hurt Locker. Let me know what you think!)