As gripping as it is pointless

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2010)

After hearing all the good reviews and positive feedback from friends and family, my girlfriend and I decided to finally check out "The Hurt Locker" the Friday before Oscar weekend. As I write this, the Oscars are still two days away, and Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" is poised to win big.
Unfortunately, I don't quite understand where all the hype is coming from for this often suspenseful, more often dull and meandering war drama. Let's get down to brass tax - the main character, SSG William James (played by Jeremy Renner) has absolutely zero character development. He starts out tough-as-nails and cynical...and that's where he stays for the remainder of the movie. Scenes involving the soldiers in combat and during James's defusing of bombs - be they in the middle of the road, or in flaming vehicles - go from gripping and intense to dull and boring within minutes. With a few cuts, this movie could have easily shed 20 to 30 full minutes and lost nothing in the end. And in the end, without giving away anything...I just didn't care. It didn't feel real anymore. SSG James was TOO over-the-top, too much of the same thing, for 2+ hrs.
Sorry, folks. Aside from some decent cinematography, this was another hallow and pointless Iraq War movie. You'd get more kicks and learn more about yourself and the world by watching a documentary on it on the Nat Geo Channel.