Explosively thrilling!

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2016)

I feel like the best way of describing this movie would be to call it an "experience." I know that every movie, technically speaking, is an experience, but a lot of movies seem to tell us a story with us looking in from the outside of the films events. This film literally places us in the middle of what is happening, and it does so with style!
There are a few things about this movie that I really enjoyed. First and foremost, the acting! My word, this is by far the most surprising element of the film for me. Every member of this cast does a good job. The two standout performances come from Kurt Russel and John Malkovich.
Kurt Russel is an actor that I haven't seen in ages, and so I'd kind of forgotten about him, but his performance in this movie is so brilliant that it redeems his lack of activity in the past few years.
The special effects used for the explosions in this movie are superb. The film has an extremely realistic feel to it, thanks in know small part to the cinematographer Enrique Chediak, who, while rushing things at times, captures moments of beauty at others.
This movie also does a great job at portraying the oil rig explosion in a very humane way, getting us to sympathize with the characters and their circumstances.
It is just this combination of elements that makes this movie so good. While any other Hollywood director could have made it feel very ungrounded, Peter Berg came and turned it into a thrilling experience with a lot of heart.