pure war movie excels

Rating: 8/10 (18 October 2004)

I just saw this for the first time and found it engaging and impressive, although with little of depth or originality. It is an old-school war movie of the type that have gotten in vogue again, where comradeship and battle action are the main things. The movie is essentially one long battle sequence, and as such it's pretty outstanding. The editing and the sets are extraordinary, reminiscent of the last 1/3rd of "Full Metal Jacket" or the first 10 minutes of "Saving Private Ryan". Big cities and structures shot to pieces make for excellent cinema, although the direction does border on a computer game-like showpiece at times. There were some strong scenes involving dying soldiers, not terribly original but effective in the context.
The first thing I had to check out was who played "Hoot", and it turned out to be Eric Bana who I didn't recognize. His character and performance is the best thing in the movie, apart from the superb action scenes. Great screen presence, and also a thankful role as the cool uber-soldier. I can't say I think Ewen McGregor's part worked, except as comic relief. Josh Hartnett was OK, but seemed a bit underdeveloped. Tom Sizemore, Jason Isaacs and William Fichtner are *always* a delight to see, and I admire the casting department that brought in these charismatic supporting actors into the same movie.
Racist? Well, if I was Somalian I wouldn't have appreciated this movie. But, it's an old-school war movie, so it goes with the territory.
I gave it a 7 / 10, for a couple of very specific reasons only, detailed above.