One big propagandistic cliché worth 6 Oscars

Rating: 3/10 (7 November 2016)

If I ever thought the Oscars were biased and given according to criteria different from those of cinema, this film proves it. The Hurt Locker feels like taken from the cold war propaganda, only set in the 21st century and in Iraq. We follow these three soldiers as they do their duty in Iraq. Three incredibly stereotyped characters, lead by a hot head who doesn't care about doing right or wrong and who in the end reveals his only love is for war, despite having a wife and a newborn son. How patriotic and altruistic a man can be? The kind of man you would want to go happy to war, not once but twice or more. You can spend the whole two hours feeling confident that something worth 6 Oscars is about to happen but nope. The guy ends up being a hero and is hungry for more. So, how come this Sunday afternoon there's-nothing-better-on-the-TV film wins 6 academy awards, including best writing?? Maybe the whole Iraqi occupation thing wasn't doing well on public opinion and a few awards would attract viewers and instantaneously improve the support for the war. Some vets and war connoisseurs have explained here how inaccurate this film is, regarding what happens in real life, from military discipline, chain of command, tactical stuff to the highly unlikeliness of going around Iraq alone, shooting "natives" and easily getting away with it. Of course, there are some details that deserve recognition, like sound and some photography. The only surprise is the killing of Guy Pearce, perhaps the best actor in the film, at the very beginning, only to be replaced by this cliché of a brave man. Guy Pearce's presence in this movie is as good as Samuel L. Jackson being killed by a shark during his motivational speech just a few minutes in in that terrible shark movie. So the movie is just a thriller full of fantasies and clichés, disrespectful to real war victims – soldiers or civilians -, the kind of movie that invites the unaware to join the military with the promise of becoming a hero, no matter what you have to do to achieve it. The kind of movie made to subtly impact on public opinion.