Review of World Trade Center (2006) by Sean N — 09 Oct 2010

I think we can all agree that movies like these are hard to watch considering the events that inspired them. But, they're usually good. World Trade Center is no exception. In one of Oliver Stone's finest movies, the high emotions that came out during the events of 9/11 are shown and portrayed exceptionally by the cast.

The film is the true story of Port Authority officers John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) who on the morning of September 11, 2001, learn of a plane hitting the North Tower of the World Trade Center. When they arrive there, the South Tower has also been hit. As they enter the concourse between the two towers with their team in hopes of rescuing those trapped on the upper floors, the Towers collapse on them, trapping them underneath piles of rubble. The rest of the movie focuses on their families as their wives (Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal) hope for their safety as they lay trapped under the rubble of the twin towers.

There are a lot of things that are good about the film. The obvious is the cast, where the best performances come from Cage, Pena, Bello, and Gyllenhaal. But, the rest of the cast is excellent too. Like most movies that focus on life threatening situations, the spirit that the characters display in this movie is excellent.

It is honestly hard to say what I don't like about this movie. Maybe it got a little boring after the towers collapse, but that's just me. It doesn't affect the movie in any way. Also, there seemed to be a problem with the sound. I don't know if it was just me or my DVD player, but at some points in the movie I could barely hear any sound. Also, what was that angel-like character who appeared twice in the movie?

But in all honestly, WTC is a very solid movie. I really don't see how some critics hated this movie. I can understand why some people who were affected by the events would hate this movie, but unless some critics were affected, I don't see why they would hate this movie. This is a really good movie, and one of the best directed by Oliver Stone.

(Final Note: R.I.P. to those who died on that day).