[Click here for a guide to Booze Revooze and the rating system used]
From The Bar None Juice-Box: Music from the film.
Ministry
1. Fear (is big business)
2. Khyber Pass
3. Palestina
(Note all songs are from Ministry’s 2006 album Rio Grande Blood)
Ramblings: Explosive
Final Proof: 3 Shots
The Hurt Locker is intense from the instant the curtain rises. The first scene primes you with energy that’s explosive for the duration. Magnificently directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the movie never really sinks into those “War Is Hell” clichés, at least not very often, and also stays away from the politics of the Iraq conflict. The acting is as realistic as the action, so i guess the only thing that really left a bad taste in my mouth was a lack of direction.
You know how you go to the bar and drink until something happens ’cause if you drink long enough something surely will? Not here. The flick begins full throttle so has nowhere to go from there and i eventually got bored of the bomb disarming scenes. If that’s the story’s point, that war is repetitive, the characters should have been more blasé than they were at the the end.
When all is said and done, despite this solitary dud, Kathryn Bigelow’s obvious talent as a director makes The Hurt Locker a blast.
Buzz Kills (Watch out for spoilers)
Sex: 0 shots
The only woman in this whole thing is Evangeline Lilly (and if you’re only gonna have one, she’s a good one to have) but she’s only on screen for all of ninety seconds. Still, it’s a good enough excuse to look up pictures of her on the Net. [Note: the amount of space dedicated to her in this post is not representative of her screen time in the film.]
Drink: 1/2 shot
Only one scene. There’s rowdy male bonding over whiskey shots from the bottle in the barracks. You’d think a bomb squad would need more liquid down time. Jeebus, in M*A*S*H* they had a still in their tent and that was a tv show.
Rock & Roll: 4 Shots
Apart from some Ministry which we hear in the new guy’s room upon his arrival and more metal during the end credits, the real rock & roll in this film is the film itself. There’s enough of it in the film’s attitude to blow up your mental speakers. There’s a suicidal rebel leader, explosions, fighting, guns, shooting, killing, and balls to the wall intensity that rocks hard.
Boring Technical Crap
Written by: Mark Boal
Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring
Jeremy Renner – SSgt William James
Anthony Mackie – Sgt J.T. Sandborn
Brian Geraghty – Spc Owen Eldridge
Also appearing like mirages in this movie are Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes.
Bottom Line
See it.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Yeah, I really enjoyed this one. I thought I was going to be too tense to get through it, and it’s true that the beginning was really cringe-worthy insofar as dramatic tension, but the rest of it was just enough that it was very exciting and yet not so much that I got too freaked out. A good balance. It was exciting and I really liked the main character in this one. The appearance by Ralph Fiennes was GREAT! So unexpected, and I loved seeing him in this!
March 14th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
[...] Here’s a link to a great review I read of The Hurt Locker, from a beer drinkers perspective. Perhaps this’ll shed some light on the film! Comments [...]
February 3rd, 2013 at 1:31 pm
[...] 3½ Shots? Because it’s all of those things that make it good that i just mentioned. Where The Hurt Locker took new ground and not just broke it but blew the shit out of it (if a little unevenly), Zero Dark [...]