Much like the diamond, this film is a jewel.

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2007)

Blood Diamond plays out like a number of things. Its use of a Macguffin to forward the plot is easy to spot but it makes full use of its approach and at times, the film will feel like a war film in the vein of Black Hawk Down minus the American soldiers; a secret agent film in the vein of a 'Bourne' film with DiCaprio replacing Damon and a political thriller surrounding a desperate situation in another country which isn't developed enough to deal with it itself.
What felt fresh about Blood Diamond is its use of the diamond as the object and the country of Sierra Leone as the setting. I doubt if the film would've been as good had the diamond been a case of money being sought after in a city and it reminded me distinctly of a novel I read a couple of years ago entitled 'Night of the Fox' which was a Second World War story about an Allied general who gets washed up in France following a boat attack and is carrying extensive knowledge about the D-Day landings planned for France within the next month or so. Needless to say, certain Axis powers and characters all try and get their hands on it as it could prove vital for the Nazi effort. Blood Diamond was this sort of unpredictable, middle of a dystopia film with several powers all trying to find what's what.
I especially liked the character study Blood Diamond had and its attention to development and detail as events unfolded. DiCaprio plays his character, Danny Archer, like a secret agent throughout most of the opening third but then as we get to know him more and more, it becomes clear why he's acting in that way and why he's so good at evading capture and dodging bullets. This is contrasted to the character of Solomon Vandy (Hounsou) whose story is so much more compelling and involving; where Archer's side of the film plays out like a Bourne film, Vandy's is more of an Apocalypto. But these two different approached are separated once the coming together of the two characters happens. They are combined in an effort where the film retains its 'Bourne' and 'Apocalypto' feel yet goes down the road of 'D-Day plans in France' or 'Bag of money in a city' obviously using a huge diamond buried somewhere in a war torn country full of jungle, warlords and greedy South African commandos.
Blood Diamond becomes more action packed when the two leads combine. There is a fabulous scene in a street where after literally just meeting, Archer and Vandy are caught in a crossfire between two sides that escalates into a spontaneous war zone; echoing Black Hawk Down but also a Bourne film. There are also other scenes such as the escape of an ambush and a chase involving a jeep  the following exchange at a checkpoint guarded by kids with AK-47s is equally as compelling. But the whole time, Archer and Vandy sort of remain enemies as they're both after different things  Vandy wants the diamond and his family whereas Archer, deep down, just wants the diamond.
Blood Diamond is not only a fast paced, adrenaline fuelled action film with excellent dialogue, acting and character development but also as a political comment on not only Sierra Leone's situation but Africa's as a whole. One character states how she says CNN will probably squeeze a report of Africa's troubles in-between the sports news and the weather forecast and there is further evidence of richer countries ignoring the situation when a bar television has Clinton addressing problems on his supposed affair and not problems on Sierra Leone's civil war. This is of course dealt with toward the very end when gracious acknowledgement is given to certain characters and I'll say that simple shots of Jewelry shop fronts have never been more meaningful. Blood Diamond is powerful and important as well as remaining entertaining and compelling.