War can be Absolute Hell

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2018)

This was not a movie that I really went out of my way to see and while I did notice the hype when it won an Oscar I still didn't try too hard to see it. Having said that The Hurt Locker really is a very good movie. It tells the story of a US Army bomb squad team in Iraq in 2004.
The movie is very well acted and overall very good, even to the point of being fantastic. Unfortunately, it was filmed documentary style with hand held cameras. Something I am not fan of at all.
Jeremy Renner is Sergeant James, a bomb technician and unlike his easy going predecessor, he is a wild man. He seems not only indifferent to the dangers of his job, he absolutely revels in the dangers. It is the ultimate in thrill seeking behaviour, getting that dopamine surge in his brain. Near the end of the movie, he gets accused of being an adrenaline junkie, but by then we know that the neurochemical at work here is dopamine. Bomb disposal is not just a job for him, it's his passion, his addiction, his reason for being in the Army.
While watching The Hurt Locker, a scene from G.I. Jane comes to mind when Demi Moore's character is questioned about her motivations to continue to struggle through SEAL training. She responds by asking how males in the program answer the same question. The answer being "Cause I get to blow things up." In this movie, Jeremy Renner in the role of Sergeant James antes up by placing his very existence into the mix.
A movie well worth seeing, but not one I would go back to over and over like I have done with G.I. Jane.