Could and Should Have Been so Much More

Rating: 4/10 (2 July 2016)

You have to question what Black Hawk Down is trying to do in order to understand it. If it's trying to be a simple, straight to the point war film then I suppose it succeeds on a number of levels. If it's trying to tell a detailed and interesting account of real life events then it fails massively. This is a film where everything is on a surface level. Even attempt to dig a little deeper and you will be left bitterly disappointed. For all its technical excellence and hammering intensity, the film lacks intrigue or balance or emotion, just anything that makes you invested in what's taking place.
The film is based around the real life Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993, when a raid by the U.S military went disastrously wrong and troops were trapped on the ground under heavy fire. I say based because a lot of stuff is fictionalised (as you would expect) despite what the film tells us. The first 30 minutes of the film are absolutely pointless in reflection. Instead of at least trying to develop the vast array of characters or explore their internal thoughts, the film just wastes time on a whole host of war movie clichés. The soldiers lounge around, they insult each other, some of them are scared but others are calmly confident. This might make them seem authentic, but it isn't going to make the audience remotely interested in them once the shooting begins.
Once the troops land the film basically becomes one gigantic action sequence. Men are split up, helicopters get shot down, the injured have to be rescued and the superiors behind the scenes bark out orders. It's all done with great efficiency. However, the film is so pounding and forceful that it never gives itself a chance to breathe. As a result there is little chance to build up any drama or provide vulnerability.
You have a number of capable actors present who are just playing blank slates when they could easily have delivered so much more. Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard, these guys are perfect for the film yet they're so underused. Josh Hartnett is effectively the main character but he delivers a performance of dour machismo because the script won't let him do anything else. The Somalians themselves are faceless antagonists, which I don't usually have a major problem with as most war films have portrayed the opposite side negatively, but I think the lack of any type of development is disappointing. They just seem to want to irritate the American forces, there's little to them beyond that.
Ridley Scott shoots the film with great vibrancy and a visceral edge. His vivid visual style is easily one of the films highlights. He manages to make the battle scenes feel up and close, giving them an almost documentary-like quality that works very well. There's also no denying that the action is incredibly gritty and intense. There's no attempts to sugar-coat or exaggerate and I respect the film for that. Plenty of blood is spilt, limbs are blown off, soldiers are trapped in wreckages, it's very brutal stuff and certainly not for the faint-hearted. The attempts to recreate these hectic fire fights are some of the film's most effective moments.
Yet no matter what the eventual outcome of the film is, it boldly makes the point that these men are heroes. It doesn't matter if they're victorious or defeated, the fact that they were willing to die for their fellow man is enough. Now I like the thought behind this idea, but it ends up falling flat. Because the film doesn't explain why the soldiers are there, we never know what they risked their lives for. I don't like how the message ends up being handled or how preachy it gets. It's almost as if the film is saying that it doesn't really matter whether you're fighting for something that might be morally wrong because you stood by your fellow soldier and got behind your country. War films should always at least attempt to examine the psychology and reasoning behind war, but this is something that Black Hawk Down completely bypasses.
Going back to my earlier point, the main problem with Black Hawk Down is that it is all surface. We end up knowing very little about why the United States is there in the first place, what they're trying to achieve or what is going through the minds of the soldiers. I understand that the film is trying to make these soldiers more true to life, but for the film to really work then they needed to be fleshed out because once the action starts you don't really care who lives or who dies. It doesn't even bother to deal with any complicated issues that may arise, whether they are political or moral. For all its grittiness and technical skill, if it's not going to develop anything then why should we should we try to be invested in it?