saddening

Rating: 2/10 (7 March 2010)

Zero characterisation. Zero structure (a succession of sketches). Zero creativity. Since I did not care for the protagonist, I did not give a damn whether he would explode or not. There is much more stake and therefore much more suspense in “Juggernaut” (1974), another film with bomb disposal experts. Certain elements of “The hurt locker” do not make sense. Why does the first terrorist wait till the bomb disposal expert is leaving the premises to detonate his bomb ? Why does the protagonist not want to use the robot on his first mission ? How does he know the bomb is not radio activated ? One scene, the ambush in the desert, is totally unbelievable. The snipers manage to kill three soldiers from far away with plain portable machine guns when the protagonists have a hard time hitting them with a mounted machine gun. The fact that the protagonist is addicted to adrenaline is said several times in the movie but hardly shown. A little bit at the end when the protagonist prefers to return to Irak than shop with his wife and take care of his son. Which tells so much about the authors’ philosophy. One can feel very alive raising a child or working on one’s couple. It does not boil down to choosing cereals or making jacks in the boxes appear. On top of all this, the climax, if this is one, is very poor and the film carries a few clichés. Lastly, if there was a movie that proved that eratic camera shots and zoomings will never make a film alive, this is the one. "The hurt locker" is dead. The fact that American “professionals” are about to honor this movie is extremely saddening.