Black Hawk...Thumbs Down!

Rating: 5/10 (20 November 2005)

When I watch a war movie, I expect to see lots of disturbing deaths, full-throated explosions, and rousing action. But most importantly, I expect a compelling story with strong characterizations that'll engage me for the next 2 and a half hrs. Black Hawk Down only delivered half of it! The movie's major flaw is the characters. None of them are 3-dimensional and we really have no reason to care for any of them. There are about 30 soldiers who get screen time and none of them are nearly as developed as they should be. There are many scenes showing troops reacting to the death of their fellow soldiers, the music playing in the background indicated me these were sad moments. Those scenes were intended to move me (the audience) but since I hardly knew any of them, I felt nothing but disgust, as some scenes were graphically full of gore. They were gross but not emotional. This may be war, but cinematically there is no true conflict here, no emotional investment, no setbacks to surprise, no obstacles to draw the viewer in. Nice attempt from director Ridley Scott but he definitely came up short of what he could have accomplished on this. Maybe Bruckheimer should be blamed!