Review of Basic (2003) by John W — 30 Jul 2007
Basic wants to be a really good movie. It tries so hard to keep you on the edge of your seat and wondering who's good and bad. It's fault is that it tries a little too hard. At a relatively brief running time for the genre, it packs a lot in a little amount of time.
It does this through annoying montage scenes, quick cuts and flash backs. The movie centers around two conflicting stories from two Army Rangers who were rescued from the jungle, the rest of there team presumed dead.
From there things get a little too complicated a little to fast. You see annoying overlaps in the stories and small details go unanswered, probably to keep the pace running full speed. The last twenty minutes of the film is a whirlwind of twists that is hard to keep up with.
The ending is surprising, I give credit to the writers in that I didn't see that coming. The delivery is flat, and the truth, instead of being shown through flashbacks like the witness stories, is presented simply through conversation.
It leaves you slightly dissatisfied and bewildered. Basic needed to be twenty minutes longer and slightly more self aware. Maybe that way the final outcome will seem like a cleverly designed plot twist and not some inside joke.
This review of Basic (2003) was written by John W on 30 Jul 2007.
Basic has generally received mixed reviews.
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