Bigelow, Renner and cast deliver one of the best war movies in recent memory

Rating: 9/10 (7 August 2009)

On paper, it doesn't see difficult to make a war movie these days; Iraq and other recent wars give filmmakers plenty of material to work with, in terms of both action and commentary.
Kathryn Bigelow doesn't only deliver on both thrilling, adrenaline pumping action and insight into the effects of war on soldiers, though she does both of these things almost flawlessly. She gives us the best movie made about the Iraq war thus far, possibly one of the best ever. Thinking about it, the only war movies I can unequivocally place above The Hurt Locker are Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now. Others require further deliberation.
She does this two ways. First is the action: from start to finish, this is one of the most intense, thrilling movies I have seen. That doesn't simply mean huge explosions and gory deaths, in fact, there aren't even that many of those.
The excitement lies in the situations; there are so many things happening at once in the missions Bravo Company undertakes, and so much at stake, that you can't help but truly be thrilled and captivated by it.
The second way is the superb casting. Jeremy Renner, of course, as the seemingly reckless bomb tech, is the star here. His performance is breathtaking, and in my opinion any actor who can make you uncertain whether you like them/agree with what they're doing is really good. Oscar worthy performance? Maybe. But I wouldn't count on it. Regardless, this is the role that's going to make people notice him.
But Renner doesn't steal the show. Anthony Mackie also delivers a flawless performance and is somebody you root for no matter what is happening. However, without hopefully giving anything away, his character also has several moments just like Renner that makes you go "man, I can't believe he's doing this" that, in a way, makes him just as ambiguous of a character as Renner's. His and Renner's relationship and the contrast in their personalities and approach to war is in a way the focal point of the movie.
Renner is getting all the buzz but Mackie is also really, really good in this, and I hope he is not overlooked, because he is simply a terrific actor, displaying great range in this and deserves more roles.
The rest of the cast (with one exception I describe below) is also good, but not as solid as Renner and Mackie. Geraghty's fine for his role. The supporting cast is great, with Maracho, Morse, Fiennes and Pearce all delivering good performances, Maracho and Pearce especially. They're all really minor though in comparison to the three leads My only qualm with the film is, after all the seemingly split-second action throughout the movie, it somehow drags towards end! This part is completely unnecessary and simply shows what we already knew had to happen based on the rest of the movie. It seems an excuse to give my one disappointment in the cast, Evangeline Lilly, some screen time just because she's hot.
Overall, though, The Hurt Locker simply needs to be seen. Who cares about your thought on the Iraq War, it isn't about that. It's about the concept of war in general...and how humanity reacts to and embraces it. See it.