Review of Green Zone (2010) by Maksim B — 03 Jan 2011

Green Zone is a piece of war-thriller which delivers some entertainment and will satisfy the fans of this genre with Baghdad street chasing and more logical story-telling than most of the summer block-busters. Paul Greengrass' approach of almost X-box-like depiction of street battles and storming of buildings will definitely please the more action-driven fans and those who adore Matt Damon and the Bourne installments, even if it is about a casual performance by him.

On the other side, those who have expected a fast-paced and cutting-edge war-thriller with elements of spy suspense will be definitely disappointed with Green Zone. The plot is underdeveloped in a slowly paced war-story combined with spy conspiracy, some elements of political thrills and a moral dilemma just about to emerge in Matt Damon's character. It also lacks a memorable performance of the main characters, such as Di Caprio & Crowe in Body of Lies. There is no trace of slick dialogues between Damon and Gleeson, chemistry between actors or even more central role of Brendan Gleeson.

Green Zone is not a bad movie, but an uneven one, in which positives compensate for the negatives.