Review of The Hurt Locker (2008) by Ellis W — 21 Dec 2012

I may upset many people by saying this, but I believe this film to be one of the most over-rated movies of all time. Let's start off by clearing one thing up - I am not at all saying this is a bad movie, it's nicely directed, powerfully acted, with a decent and realistic use of special effects which do not completely dominate screen presence.

It does give a strong representation of the Iraq war, yet throughout the film I found myself detatched. It never absorbed me deep enough to overcome some of its drawn out scenes, it was almost like what was there was a good basis, yet there was not enough emotion, tension, or gritty reality to keep me enthralled.

It is certainly not a bad war film, but I have seen a wealth of better ones. And I must say, when comparing this to Cameron's Avatar, this robbed that film of its well-deserved Oscars.