"Green Zone" Film Review
It's not the "The Hurt Locker" but it still kicks some terrorist tail. (Now on DVD)
3 Stars
Blog exclusive!
The Green Zone is an ironic name for a place in war-torn Baghdad. When I think of the color green I conjure up images of flora and fauna, not life and death situations. But in the heat of battle the difference between living and dying has a lot to do with lady luck. So it’s only natural that in director Paul Greengrass' (The Bourne Ultimatum) “Green Zone” instability rules, and death is everything but a distant reality.
Matt Damon (The Informant!) is Chief Miller, a US Army soldier in charge of a WMD seek-and-destroy unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As days turn to weeks and no WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destruction) are found - despite numerous intelligence reports from the Pentagon - Miller grows increasingly concerned that the information he was given is faulty. When a suspicious Iraqi citizen comes forward with potentially game-changing intelligence Miller’s world is turned upside down. The Chief and his team than embark on an intense journey in search of the 'truth'. Miller doesn't seem mind that going rouge could be considered bending the rules.
Obviously "Green Zone" is based on real people, places and events yet the film feels a tad unrealistic. Chief Miller manages to avoid top government officials and his superiors without much difficulty. I'm sorry, but is this 007 or an army soldier? And how does Chief manage to convince his soldiers to go on this journey with him? Despite the plot holes a pretty compelling film is hidden underneath all the nonsense.
From a technical standpoint this film isn't bad, but it’s not great either. Whenever a scene takes place at night the film becomes very grainy. And the CG is also a hit-and-miss with too many noticeably fake looking structures and atmospheric effects. However the action is staged well. Paul Greengrass is known for directing “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” both of which contain visceral, hand to hand combat sequences and a lighting pace. Fortunately “Green Zone” is no different. While not as polished as "The Bourne Trilogy" you should expect to see many urban firefights, helicopter explosions and chase sequences of a very high caliber. The action sequences do not dominate the film and fit properly in between slower paced, story driven scenes.
Thanks to a strong performance by Matt Damon the movie doesn’t topple like Saddam’s statue. But the “Green Zone” doesn’t measure up to last year’s best picture winner “The Hurt Locker”.
"Green Zone" was directed by Paul Greengrass from a script written by Brian Helgeland, adapted from the book the “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone” written by Rajiv Chandrasekaran.
©2011 Matthew R. Reis, All rights reserved.
3 Stars
Blog exclusive!
The Green Zone is an ironic name for a place in war-torn Baghdad. When I think of the color green I conjure up images of flora and fauna, not life and death situations. But in the heat of battle the difference between living and dying has a lot to do with lady luck. So it’s only natural that in director Paul Greengrass' (The Bourne Ultimatum) “Green Zone” instability rules, and death is everything but a distant reality.
Matt Damon (The Informant!) is Chief Miller, a US Army soldier in charge of a WMD seek-and-destroy unit during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As days turn to weeks and no WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destruction) are found - despite numerous intelligence reports from the Pentagon - Miller grows increasingly concerned that the information he was given is faulty. When a suspicious Iraqi citizen comes forward with potentially game-changing intelligence Miller’s world is turned upside down. The Chief and his team than embark on an intense journey in search of the 'truth'. Miller doesn't seem mind that going rouge could be considered bending the rules.
Obviously "Green Zone" is based on real people, places and events yet the film feels a tad unrealistic. Chief Miller manages to avoid top government officials and his superiors without much difficulty. I'm sorry, but is this 007 or an army soldier? And how does Chief manage to convince his soldiers to go on this journey with him? Despite the plot holes a pretty compelling film is hidden underneath all the nonsense.
From a technical standpoint this film isn't bad, but it’s not great either. Whenever a scene takes place at night the film becomes very grainy. And the CG is also a hit-and-miss with too many noticeably fake looking structures and atmospheric effects. However the action is staged well. Paul Greengrass is known for directing “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” both of which contain visceral, hand to hand combat sequences and a lighting pace. Fortunately “Green Zone” is no different. While not as polished as "The Bourne Trilogy" you should expect to see many urban firefights, helicopter explosions and chase sequences of a very high caliber. The action sequences do not dominate the film and fit properly in between slower paced, story driven scenes.
Thanks to a strong performance by Matt Damon the movie doesn’t topple like Saddam’s statue. But the “Green Zone” doesn’t measure up to last year’s best picture winner “The Hurt Locker”.
"Green Zone" was directed by Paul Greengrass from a script written by Brian Helgeland, adapted from the book the “Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone” written by Rajiv Chandrasekaran.
©2011 Matthew R. Reis, All rights reserved.
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